


Starry Starry Night

by Ree923



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Darcy Lewis, Awesome Phil Coulson, F/M, Frigga is awesome too, Humor, Romance, Tony Fucking Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2017-12-24 03:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 32,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/935000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ree923/pseuds/Ree923
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Fury admits that Coulson's alive, Tony and Pepper are called in to keep him that way. And if Darcy overhears a few things about the agent she may or may not have a crush on, well, what's the worst that could happen?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Phil Coulson always thought he'd die in his sleep. He was never one to think of himself dying in the line of duty, he was too efficient, too intelligent. He was the example that led the wannabes and he was invincible. Miss Lewis had called him a ninja and secretly, he had agreed. He knew he was going to live to a ripe old age, still on top. It was a given.

Until he looked down at himself and saw something sticking out of him and well, may have passed out from shock.

PDPDPDPD

The Avengers were told of Coulson's death, they rallied, they fought, they won. In time, they rebuilt New York and the Tower. But they couldn't say that everything was back to normal. They'd lost one of their own and it hurt. Even after a year, they were a bit more subdued whenever anyone mentioned his name. Especially Tony, though he'd cover by saying he was annoyed that anyone had thought he'd needed a babysitter who couldn't even save himself.

The Tower was quickly becoming a hang out for the Avengers, never planned, of course. But the others seemed to gravitate to the one place they knew they could find others who understood all they'd lost. And what they still had. Tony had built labs for Bruce and Jane, but hadn't told them yet. He wasn't ready to admit he needed anyone that much, besides Pepper. And while she knew about the labs, Pepper pretended that she didn't.

Pepper walked briskly down the newly installed hallway, a slight smirk on her face as she noticed Tony had hung a large photo of Ironman at the end of the hall - right outside her office. His way of warning the male employees just who her boyfriend was. Nice touch, really.

As she entered her office, she stopped mid stride and stared. Nick Fury was sitting behind her desk, calmly looking through her computer files. He glanced up, his good eye staring her down.

"Director Fury," she said softly.

"Miss Potts," he answered. "Let me tell you a story. It's about life and death and a little thing called Project Lazarus."

PDPDPDPD

"Are you trying to tell me that he's not dead?" Tony asked, hands on his hips. "You mean to tell me that I got all syrupy sweet compassionate over a man who is not dead? I'll kill him." Pepper let her boyfriend rant and rave and kick a few things until finally she stood up and pushed him down onto the large sofa in her office.

"Tony, please. Everyone knows you've missed the man. Now, do you want to hear the rest or not?"

"Missed him? Missed _**him**_? He's been alive and not once has he let anyone know? Not even Captain Amazing? Not very teamish of him."

"Teamish is not a word," Fury said from the doorway. Tony jumped off the sofa and glared.

"You, you knew about this the whole time? Of course you did, manipulative bastard that you are." Tony waved his arms around and used swear words Fury hadn't heard since Howard Stark had been alive.

"Thank you," Fury said, sitting down. "But I'm fairly certain I'd remember intercourse with a tire iron." Pepper hid a smirk and Tony glared at them both. Finally, he sat back down and folded his arms across his chest, staring down at the floor.

"Fine," he muttered. "Tell me what the hell is going on and make it fast. I have an agent to smack."

Fury sighed. "Your father didn't lose the entire tesseract. He'd managed to save a tiny piece, unknown to myself for some time. We found it after his death and have been using it to track the larger piece and locate Asgard - for national security of course. The smaller piece has a few...unusual attributes. Coulson benefited from them."

"And you are telling us this now because?" Tony asked.

"Because the tiny piece of tesseract is now permanently embedded into Coulson's brain, effectively making him a sort of tracking unit. With him, we can find the larger piece before Hydra can." He glared at them both. "Unfortunately, Howard's notes are a bit, sketchy, on the properties of the piece we put in Agent Coulson. We aren't sure how stable it will remain. We need someone who understand's your father's work."

"This is getting weird," Tony said to Pepper. She smiled.

"Right up your alley, dear."

PDPD

Pepper hadn't known anything much about the Tesseract, so she listened intently while the director explained S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history with the artifact. Tony had heard rumors of course, his father's minions got a bit talkative at Stark Christmas parties and young Tony had heard a few things he'd never admit he knew about to anyone, especially Fury.

"I suppose my first question is why would you implant something like that into Coulson. It could have killed him," Tony said quietly.

"He was already dead, Stark. Or do you not know the story of Lazarus?"

"Are you comparing yourself to Christ now? Even for you, that's quite nervy," Tony said, standing up to pace the room. He was worried and a worried Tony was an unpredictible Tony. Pepper watched him carefully.

"Actually, Agent Hill named the procedure. She's got a background in theology. Who would have guessed?"

"That explains the sensible shoes and whiff of brimstone that follows her. So - alien artifact implanted in Agent Coulson. Explain."

"While it is true that the Tesseract destroyed anyone who touched it directly, it appeared to only have that effect on hostiles. And we didn't implant it, technically." The director rubbed his good eye and sighed. "The fragment implanted itself once I agreed to give over Coulson as a host."

"Excuse me, what?" Tony was wide eyed and as close to shocked as Pepper had ever seen him.

"It," Fury looked constipated and Tony should have laughed, but he was too curious. "The piece implanted in Coulson was from your father's lab. The lab I should have blown up years ago. Who knows what other headaches Stark left for me." Fury took a deep breath, trying to compose himself as Pepper handed him some coffee. "I made a sort of deal with an alien rock to save my agent's life but the damned fragment played us." He stood up, and went to stare out of one of the large office windows. Seeming to make a decision, he turned and faced them.

"The fragment is sentient, it's not hostile exactly. But it's determined to get to its source."

Pepper froze. "You mean, the Tesseract. Oh, but Phil," she stammered.

"Phil would obviously die, again. That is not in our best interests as you can imagine. Stark, we need you to make sure that my agent remains alive and the Tesseract is back in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control. Obviously the fewer people who know about this mission, the better."

JARVIS announced visitors entering the Tower lobby and Tony grinned sheepishly.

"Um, that may be harder to control than you planned."

PDPDPD

The man stood, staring up at the Avengers Tower, shaking his head. Taking a steadying breath, he looked down at the engraved invitation for the tenth time that morning.

_**The Magnificent Iron Man (AKA the equally Magnificient Anthony Edward Stark),** _

_**Requests the Honor of having you move into the totally cool revamped Avengers Tower, complete with mini bars, stripper poles and super secret stuff that Shield should seriously salivate over! (Say that fast three times!)** _

_**Come early and watch the latecomers ooh and ahh over the coolest secret hideout ever built in plain sight.** _

_**Oh...and bring some cookies or something, don't want to be rude to the brilliant genius playboy philanthropist hosting this shindig do you?** _

"Agent Barton? Is that you?" a low voice broke through Clint's thoughts of self recrimination and he found himself staring into the concerned gaze of Dr. Bruce Banner.

"Dr. Banner," Clint nodded. "Sightseeing?" Bruce held up his invitation and Clint rolled his eyes. Of course, he should have known that others would be waiting to jump onto this train wreck.

"You got one too," the doctor noted. "Well, are you going to do it?"

"What? No, I'm just, curious. I could use a distraction about now. Too many thoughts...never mind. How about you?"

"I live alone. It's better that way." The two men regarded each other for a few moments until a whirlwind of color and laughter sped into them.

"Darcy, watch where you're going," Jane Foster yelled, as she paid the cab driver.

"I was watching, well, sort of - this place is huge. Look at the giant A up there. Wonder if it stands for Assh-"

"Darcy!"

"Oops, sorry. He saved the world or whatever. But have you read some of the stuff about him?"

"Norweigan tabloids are not known for their objectivity," Jane smirked, then seemed to notice the two men watching them. "Sorry guys, it's our first time in New York." They headed towards the shiny gold doors and seemed surprised when they walked with them inside.

"Um, do you work here?" Jane asked them. Clint laughed.

"For Stark? No way. I'm just here for the booze." He waved his invitation and stared when Jane produced one of her own to show them.

"Who are you?" Clint asked, suddenly wary.

"Jane. Dr. Jane Foster and this is Darcy Lewis, my assistant. Mr. Stark invited us and I really wasn't going to come, but Darcy, I mean Miss Lewis," she stammered.

"She means Darcy," the girl in question said, holding out a hand. Clint looked at the outstretched hand and seemed to relax. Gripping it gently he almost smiled.

"Good to meet you both. Thor mentioned a Jane. Was it you?" he asked the doctor, who blushed.

"Um, yeah, that would be me. He - isn't here?"

"No idea," Bruce spoke up quickly. "But we're getting weird looks from security. Maybe we should let them see our invitations." He held out a hand to Jane, then Darcy. "Dr. Bruce Banner."

"Nice to meet you," Jane said excitedly. "I've read some of your work. It's amazing." Bruce blushed a bit then remembered his original statement.

"Thanks - the guards?" The four of them made their way to the security desk and showed the invitations to a very puzzled guard who picked up the nearest phone and spoke quietly into it. After a look of shock, he nodded and hung up which seemed strange to them but no one mentioned it.

"JARVIS says to go straight up. He'll stop you on the right floor."

"JARVIS?" Darcy asked.

"At your service, Miss Lewis," a disembodied voice said and the intern spun around, looking for the speaker.

"Who was that?"

"Go into the elevator, you'll see," the guard said and went back to his work. Puzzled, the four did as instructed and started the long climb to meet with Tony Stark


	2. Chapter 2

Fury tilted his head to the side as JARVIS announced visitors arriving for Tony's party. Standing, he took a last gulp of coffee and turned toward the door, ready to leave.

"A little early in the day to throw one of your orgies, isn't it?"

"Hey, I only throw those every other Wednesday and only if Pepper is out of town," Tony said, a bit of his snark returning. "It's cool. I invited the rest of the team over."

"They do seem to visit frequently," Fury acknowledged.

"Well now they're gonna live here."

"They've all agreed to that?" Fury asked, amused. Tony rolled his eyes.

"No, not yet, but that's only because they haven't seen all the fun stuff I've installed for them to play with," he said.

"Stripper poles," Fury drawled. Tony glared.

" _ **You** _ didn't get an invitation," he said darkly. Fury almost smiled.

"No, but Barton and Rominoff did. You mailed them to S.H.I.E.L.D. which means you mailed them to _**me**_." He paused, hiding a grin. "Sorry if I forgot to bring cookies." Tony was still cursing when the elevator doors opened and he went out to greet his guests. Fury turned to Pepper and sighed.

"You and Stark need to be at HQ tonight for debriefing. A car will be by at seven sharp to pick you up." He went to walk out and was almost run over by a young woman talking a mile a minute to Tony.

"And then the elevator talked to us and you're Tony Stark and oh, is it true one of your parties ended up with you taking over a small country?"

"Miss Lewis," Fury said, sizing the girl up quickly. Darcy froze at the sight of the imposing man who towered over her. "You really need to watch where you walk while you're around Stark, he's a bit irresponsible with his toys."

"Um, hi?" Darcy said, trying to breathe again.

Jane and the others entered, slightly surprised to see Fury who nodded at Clint's invitation.

"I see you decided to come after all," he said as Clint shrugged.

"I had some time to kill," he muttered and Pepper came over to give him a hug.

"Agent Barton, very good to see you as always." He almost smiled and allowed the hug a bit longer than he should have, throwing Tony a look of smugness. He glanced back at Pepper and smiled for real.

"Miss Potts, I've told you to call me Clint."

"I'll call you Clint when you call me Pepper," she shot back, grinning. Bruce and Jane were off to one side discussing quantum physics and rainbow bridges and Tony felt like his party was getting away from him. No one was paying attention to him.

"Hey big news everybody, guess who isn't dead?"

"Stark," Fury warned. Tony would have none of it.

"Come on - guess and the first three guesses don't count. I'll give you a hint," he rambled as Fury squeezed a nerve on Tony's shoulder, dropping him into unconsciousness. Pepper's eyes widened as she ran over to her boyfriend.

"Sorry, Miss Potts. Seven." Fury nodded to her, then to the others and before anyone else could say anything, he was gone. A few minutes later JARVIS spoke up and Pepper sighed, knowing it couldn't be good.

"Director Fury says to tell Mr. Stark he is aware and I quote, 'his big mouth is going to run off as soon as he wakes up' - oh, he also says that Mr. Barton and Dr. Banner are invited along tonight. Dr. Foster and Miss Lewis are not."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Darcy demanded. "No girls allowed at the secret meeting?"

"Pepper's gonna be there to represent," Tony slurred, proving that Fury hadn't actually killed him.

Jane and Darcy stared down at Tony in stunned silence. Pepper grinned shakily and moved aside as the men hauled Tony up and onto the sofa. She turned to her other guests and shrugged.

"Never a dull moment."

PDPDPD

Agent Coulson knew the risks working with an unknown entity. He'd woken up six months ago to hear the lovely story of how his boss (and best friend) had allowed a symbiotic relationship with an alien artifact. When he'd figured out exactly _**which** _ artifact, he was not amused. He sat in his hotel room, nursing a bourbon and thought about just how his life had reached this point.

_"It says it can keep you alive, that was good enough for me," Fury had explained. Coulson had raised an eyebrow and even from his hospital bed, managed to look intimidating._

_"But for how long?" he'd asked. Fury had shrugged._

_"It wants to go home," Fury seemed nervous._

_"Don't we all?" Coulson said wryly. "But I'm guessing that's not in the **cards** for me is it?"_

_"Someone told you about your cards."_

_"Yep."_

_"Yeah, sorry about that, I needed to rally the troops. Anything from the chip?"_

_"Nothing yet. Will it turn me into a puppet or just whine until it finds its way home?"_

_"No clue. But if it helps us find the Tesseract, you have a duty to help us, Coulson."_

_"Really. Are you sure you want to go there right now, Nick?"_

_Fury stared up at the ceiling. Right._

_"Phil," he said, leaning in closer. "We need you alive. I need you alive - and you say that to anyone and I'll yank that rock right out of your head."_

_Coulson's lip twitched but he kept his voice stern. "I'd like to see you try." He stretched, feeling his arms and legs still attached was a good thing. "Let me get some sleep and then I'll follow the magic rock for you." His eyes drooped and Fury had seen how tired the man was._

_"Sure thing, Agent Coulson."_

So he'd spent the last six months getting 'feelings' from the rock, telling him where to go, what to look for to find the source - the Tesseract. He'd tried talking to it - first out loud, then telepathically, but the chip wasn't in the mood to chat. Just as well, he thought, hearing of his own demise once the chip found its way back to the Tesseract was not polite conversation.

He knew that Nick was looking for him - for them - but it had to be that way. If he was going to die at the end of this mission, he'd do it alone. But he'd make damn sure the Tesseract went right along with him.

Clint looked at Tony with mixture of amusement and scorn. _**He** _ would have seen Fury's ninja move from miles away. He _**had** _ seen it, actually, but hadn't felt like warning Stark. He figured this was much better. He only wished Nat had been there to see it. But no, she was off on some mission with Captain America and he was here, watching the real life cartoon show that was Tony Stark.

"Tony," Pepper was saying, "are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" She held her hand in front of his face and he stood up shakily, grinning like an idiot. He leaned in for a kiss and stared at her like she was naked.

"Trick question, you aren't holding up any fingers, you're waving hello."

"Boy, he's out of it," Darcy muttered to Bruce. Tony turned towards her and blinked slowly.

"Do I know you? You seem familiar."

"I met you like five minutes ago," she deadpanned and Bruce hid a smirk behind his hand, pretending to cough. Jane spoke up, holding her invitation in front of the dazed man.

"Mr. Stark, Darcy and I came because you sent this invitation," she explained. He nodded and then frowned.

"I don't remember inviting your friend," he said to the scientist, who blushed, but before she could answer, Darcy was talking again.

"Well, do you remember the big guy doing a Vulcan nerve pinch on your sorry ass?" Darcy asked, flopping down on a nearby sofa. Bruce sat next to her and after a moment's hesitation, Clint took the seat on her other side.

"He did _**not** _ \- I have low blood sugar. It's a common medical issue. Ask anyone," Tony said quickly. All eyes turned to Pepper, who shook her head.

"What he has is a low tolerance for maturity," the redhead explained. Jane nodded sympathetically.

"Darcy has the same issue."

"What I _**have**_ ," Darcy said lightly, "is a low tolerance for bull-"

"Darcy!" Jane yelled, embarrassed. Darcy shrugged. Tony shot a look towards Darcy, amused.

"I like you, you remind me of someone," he said. Pepper rolled her eyes and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Tony, we have to leave soon," she reminded him. His eyes seemed to clear at that and he punched the air like he'd just won the lottery.

"Right, secret meeting at seven." He rubbed his hands together, looking at Bruce and Clint.

"You guys are now my away team - to the ready room for debriefing." He ran out of the room and Pepper smirked.

"Is he channeling Star Trek, now? I would have taken him for a Star Wars fan," Clint grinned. "More explosions."

Pepper smiled and turned to Jane. "I know you were hoping to see Thor, but we didn't have a way to invite him. Tony thought, well, if you were here, Thor would figure it out and visit." She shrugged. "But we're still glad to see you, and your assistant." She tilted her head and regarded Darcy.

"I'm glad you came, Thor has spoken quite highly of you. Did you really taze him?" Darcy's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, I really did." Bruce and Clint stared at her, respect in their gaze.

"Sweet," said Clint. He looked at Bruce, "Thor still sending you advice letters?" Jane froze and swallowed down the excitement to keep from screaming.

"What?" Jane was floored. She walked over to Bruce, just staring. Bruce looked decidedly uncomfortable and glared at Clint briefly before looking up at Jane.

"He was oddly impressed by my - medical condition, and every few months I get a parchment scroll delivered to wherever I'm staying. I have no idea how he finds me, but he likes to write."

"He's never written me," Jane said softly. Pepper hugged her quickly.

"I think he's nervous. I mean, he didn't see you when he was in New York last year and then he sent you that letter," she trailed off as Jane's face grew still. "You never got it, did you?" Pepper was beginning to see how Fury's reach exceeded expectation. Damn the man.

"No." The one word spoke more than an entire rant could have done. Jane was beginning to understand S.H.I.E.L.D. a bit better as well. Pepper coughed lightly to break the tension.

"JARVIS will show you two to your suite, I'm really sorry, but we have to leave soon," Pepper said, her eyes misting over slightly. Jane noticed, but didn't mention it.

"Of course, and don't worry about us, we'll be fine," the scientist assured Pepper.

Pepper nodded and walked out of the room with the two Avengers. Darcy's mouth twisted in a half grin and her eyes narrowed.

"Secret meetings right as we get here? The possibilities astound even me."

"Darcy, stay out of this stuff - you know how you can get." JARVIS broke into the conversation and suggested the two would be more comfortable in their suite. Jane had to agree and they went upstairs. After squealing with delight at the state of the art sound system, Darcy was happy when Jane found some new electronic stuff to amuse her and was soon absorbed in some new research. Darcy was now free to go find the others and find out what was going on.

Secret meeting without her? Unacceptable.

"Miss Lewis," JARVIS said, concerned. "Is there anything you need?" The voice followed her as she made her way to the elevator. Damn, she'd forgotten the spooky robot guy.

"Yes, um, I needed to ask Miss Potts about getting my own room. Where is she?"

"She's in meeting room A, but they are discussing a classified matter."

"Well, I'm classified - I know about Thor and everything. And they just said I couldn't go to the super secret meeting. No one said I couldn't go to meeting room A, now did they?"

"Well, no." Darcy had him, she knew it. However, the elevator door did not open. "But they did not say you could leave your suite, either."

"I'm being held prisoner? Dude, that's getting old."

"Not a prisoner, Miss Lewis. But surely you are tired from your journey."

"Listen, I need to speak with Miss Potts. I um, need some girly things, you know, monthly girly things." JARVIS was silent and the elevator doors slid open.

"Third floor, second door on the right. Please knock before entering or someone may accidentally stun or shoot you. Depending on who is closest to the door."

"I'll keep that in mind, JARVIS."

PDPD

"He's dead. I saw him dead," Clint said, eyes unblinking. How does he do that, Tony wondered, then shook his head.

"According to your boss, he isn't. And we need to get that Tesseract fragment out of his head before it explodes or something. Usually I like a good explosion, but cleaning up Agent's brain matter goes above and beyond my little wants and needs."

"What Tony is trying to say," Pepper interrupted, "is that Agent Coulson means a lot to all of us and we need to help him."

"Is this why you invited us here?" Bruce asked, confused.

"I just found out five minutes before you got here. So no. I invited you because we're still a team, even if I totally am fine without you and besides the fact that I built you your own lab here with the latest gamma radiation research constantly uploaded into your state of the art computer system. That I wasn't gonna tell you about till later, but for some reason, my brains a bit foggy."

"Fury checked your ass, Stark," Clint reminded him, almost happily and Stark frowned.

"Low. Blood. Sugar."

"I think we are getting off topic," Pepper broke in again. "We need to help Phil, we can't lose him again." Her voice broke and the men stopped bickering long enough to realize that she was very upset. Tony threw an arm over her and kissed her head.

"We'll help Agent get his mind back in one piece. Promise. Now that we know Coulson's alive, we're gonna keep him that way."

They walked out of the meeting room as the elevator doors opened. Darcy only heard Tony's last sentence, but it was enough to get her feeling confused, happy, furious and a bit excited. Agent iPod Thief lived? He'd been such a jerk to her in New Mexico, but - he'd gotten her out of her boredom with his raised eyebrow and calm voice and - well, Darcy had a bit of a crush, not that she'd ever admit it.

"So," she jumped out in front of the stunned Avengers and Pepper. "When do we go see Secret Agent Man?"


	3. Chapter 3

Fury calmly went over the data again, before his team arrived. The Tesseract was in Asgard. Thor was in Asgard. Thor could get the cube and bring it back to save Phil. All very simple and clear cut, except for the myriad of reasons why it wasn't either of those things. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face. If his superiors knew what he was up to, they'd have his head - or at least try. But he would not lose his best agent because of Loki's power play. The way Fury figured it, Odin owed him one for not letting the Hulk smash Loki's arrogant smile into an explosion of sharpened teeth and blood. Lots of blood.

He'd told Tony and Pepper that he hadn't wanted HYDRA to find the Tesseract, but that was just a smoke screen. HYDRA couldn't find its way out of a paper bag without strong leadership, and his intel clearly showed they were trying to get their act together with the Winter Soldier situation. He'd have to check into that again soon, but for now, Rominoff and Rogers seemed to know what they were doing.

He tried not to be tense over the fact Phil had gone off on his own, he understood that the agent felt a need to have control over his own life or death situation. But there were risks and responsibilities on every mission, and Phil was still part of a team. The problem was, Fury wasn't sure which team Phil considered himself on now. And Fury was still itching to do some damage on Loki, even though Thor had made it clear that Odin had the situation well in hand. Fury hated when other people had the situation well in hand. It meant that he wasn't in control and that meant mistakes were made.

Personal vendettas went against every protocol Fury himself had set up for S.H.I.E.L.D. Emotions got you compromised, or killed. But Phil was the closest thing Nick had ever had to a family. And family didn't just abandon each other when there was a way to get things back on track. Plus, the agent had formed a symbiotic relationship with an alien technology that could get to Asgard. Which meant Fury could have access to Asgard. It was not an advantage that the director wanted to give up over a little thing like Phil's demise.

He stared down at Coulson's file again, frowning at the agent's status line. MIA.

Missing in Action.

"Damn you Phil," he muttered. "I hope you know what you're doing."

PDPDPD

Coulson knew it was a stupid plan, Nick was behaving irrationally out of sentiment even though he would never admit it. Everyone knew where the Tesseract was, but no one knew how to get to it, and he was pretty sure the god of thunder wouldn't be bringing it back for visits anytime soon.

For some reason, Nick had decided that Odin didn't really need that pesky little cube of power and wanted it back. When pressed for his reason, Fury had just said that there were some things that went beyond duty. Phil had arched an eyebrow at his friend but had said nothing. He'd find out soon enough.

Taking a long sip of his coffee, he headed out to his rental car and sighed. He missed Lola, but driving his own car would be like sending up a flare to everyone he knew Nick would have looking for him. The coffee sucked and he couldn't remember the last time he'd had any that didn't. Actually, that wasn't quite true.

That last time he'd had decent coffee was the last time he'd been to New Mexico. The little intern had mocked him at every turn, but she'd made good coffee. And swore at him when he'd come in for a cup. He'd only had time to do that once, as they were loading the doctor's equipment for transpor. He'd raised a brow at Darcy after he'd taken his first sip.

"Good coffee," he'd said, resisting the urge to lick his lips. Then maybe hers.

"Go to hell, iPod thief," she'd answered as she walked out of the room. Phil had allowed himself a small grin at her retreating back then had braced himself for the real work that would have to be done soon. In the confusion, he may have pocketed her iPod for safekeeping and well, hadn't had time to give it back to her.

Now, he wondered where she was, if she was safe. If she'd bought a new iPod. In another life, he would have asked her out for drinks, called her by her first name. Given her her iPod back. Plugging it into his car stereo, he listened to yet another of her playlists. He allowed himself the small smile he had whenever he thought of Darcy Lewis and drove out to the desert, to call the Tesseract to him and die all over again.

PDPDPD

"Miss Lewis," Pepper said, stunned. Then she looked up at the ceiling. "JARVIS?"

"She requires your assistance. Girly supplies were mentioned."

Pepper looked at Darcy closely. "Really."

"Well, I had to say something, I wanted to be useful."

"You can be useful by going back to your suite and keeping the good doctor company," Pepper said firmly. Tony had said nothing at this point but decided to speak up now.

"Girly supplies. You do realize there is a fully stocked bath suite attached to your bedroom."

"Um, no - didn't notice that. Was too busy, um, okay. Let's get this all out of the way now. I know he's alive, I know you are going to go see him, and I know he has something that belongs to me. So the way I see it, I know a lot. So there isn't any reason for me not to go with you and get my iPod back."

"Your - iPod," Bruce said, slightly confused.

"Yes, little electronic device that plays music," Clint said helpfully. Bruce rolled his eyes.

"I am aware of what an iPod is, I'm just wondering why she can't go out and buy a new one."

Darcy walked over to him and pointed a finger into his chest as she spoke. Bruce stared down at her finger and barely hid a smirk. It had been a long time since anyone had dared touch him without permission.

"Because the _**old** _ one works just fine and I like old things better than all this new crap you all seem to insist on having around you 24/7 - and I want it back. It was _**mine**_." Tears almost came then - almost. "And I hate when my stuff gets taken away."

Pepper had a clue she wasn't just speaking of iPods now and nodded. "She can come, but she stays in the car until we know what we're up against."

"Who made you boss?" Tony asked, sliding his arm around her.

"You did."

"That was just for Stark Industries," he reminded her.

"It was for _**everything**_ ," she said, giving him a look the others couldn't quite place. Tony stared at her then grinned.

"Okay, she is now officially a red shirt."

"Excuse me what? I am so not a red shirt - if anything, I'm a science officer." Darcy glared at him.

"Nope sorry, Brucie is Spock on this one," Tony said brightly, winking at Bruce.

"Don't call me that," Bruce said, annoyed. Clint hid a small smile, and Pepper noticed this, a slight grin forming on her lips.

"Then I'm Seven of Nine."

"Voyager? You're really going there? That show had nothing on the original series."

"It was before my time."

"You just said you like old things!" Tony argued.

" _ **My** _ old things," she retorted. By this time, Clint had cracked a wide smile that he didn't bother to hide, and Bruce was actually laughing a little. Pepper grinned slowly. This girl was doing what she hadn't thought do able. She was helping heal her friends. She nodded to everyone.

"Come on team, we've got a meeting to attend."

As they headed out to the car, Tony tapped Darcy on the shoulder.

"At least admit Kirk was a better captain than Janeway," he said hopefully.

"Nope, Kirk was an insecure playboy who surrounded himself with beautiful women to make him feel more like a man."

"Sounds familiar," Clint said quietly, trying not to laugh.

"Shut up, Neelix," Tony said as Darcy and Bruce burst into laughter. Pepper shook her head and muttered something about being surrounded by science geeks. But she was grinning too.

PDPDPD

Going into S.H.I.E.L.D territory was a bit like going into a zombie apocalypse, Tony decided. No one smiled, no one waved - it was a sea of suits and clipboards, washing over a dreary landscape. Happy parked the car and was told to make sure Miss Lewis stayed put while they all went inside.

Darcy smiled sweetly at that and pulled out a can of beer from the back fridge, saluting the others as they left. "Have fun with the scary dude," she called out and they smiled back at her. Even Clint.

"So, Happy, I'm guessing Starks cars have some sort of monitoring in place to keep him safe when he's out," she said, downing her beer. "Is there visual?"

"We don't use it to spy on the boss," he said primly. Darcy threw him a beer which he caught without thinking.

"Of course we don't. But how far do you really trust the people working here?" Happy thought about it, then got out of the car. Darcy frowned until the back door opened and he motioned for her to sit up front.

"You can see the monitor better from the passenger seat," he explained. "But I can't drink - I'm on duty."

"None of the super heroes know how to drive?" Darcy asked, taking a long gulp of her beer. Happy thought about it then opened his beer.

"Good point. One beer isn't going to hurt anything."

"That's the spirit!"


	4. Chapter 4

The gardens flowed in every direction, brilliant hues of gold, orange and purple. A slight breeze was flowing, and Frigga was lost in her thoughts until she almost ran into the firm chest of her beloved king. He caught her, a slight smile upon his lips as he raised one of her hands to kiss it. She smiled softly at him and allowed him to lead her to a long bench where they could watch the sunset together. There were so few of these times, and she treasured them all more than any jewels he could give her.

"You seem pensive, my dearest," Odin said, watching her expression. She always did wear her emotions on her face, he thought fondly. She leaned into his embrace and nodded, her voice serious.

"The humans are getting bolder, my husband. And now Munr is free of her prison. I know not where it all will lead."

"Munr was never a prisoner, my love. She chose to observe Howard Stark to learn more of that world. Though I am not certain she has learned anything we do not already know, humans are dangerous and must be watched carefully. However, there are good men to be found." He shifted, pulling her closer. "The Son of Coul has a destiny I would not have foreseen."

"You, unprepared?" she gently teased and he kissed her forehead, smirking.

"Never unprepared, merely, slightly surprised from time to time. All Father not withstanding, not even I know things that haven't happened as yet. Munr must have seen something particular in this Coulson male. Saving a dead man in such a way creates an irrevocable bond. The man will not age as long as he is joined with Munr and yet, she will not be back in Asgard anytime soon. I sense that their partnership will infuriate a few." He smiled at his pun and she mock glared at him in amusement.

"This Director Fury is a man who would have found great glory had he been born here. There is something other worldly about his methods. Do you think he will try to use the man as a pawn to gain entry here?"

"Oh, I'm counting on it, my dear," Odin smiled, watching the last of the sun's light disappear from view. "I am most certainly counting on it. You don't think that Munr was forcibly removed from her home in the cube, do you? Oh no, she decided on her own to find a way to stay on Midgard and expand her knowledge without anyone being able to abuse her power."

"But men found the cube anyway," she reminded him.

"And lost it," he said softly. "All things must happen as they will or nothing can exist. It is hard at times, but we all have our role to fill. I am certain Thor will not mind going back to Midgard to assist the Son of Coul."

"And see the human girl again?" Her voice held a hint of motherly protectiveness. Odin squeezed her shoulder.

"All things must happen as they will, wife," he winked at her and she relaxed, smiling. When a man with one eye winked, it was always a bit amusing.

After a while, he rose and made his way to his private study, telling a servant to send Prince Thor to him immediately. As the prince entered, bowing, Odin clapped him on the back and grinned.

"My son, we have much to plan. The Cube has chosen a conduit and you my boy will need to teach your son of Coul about his new responsibilities." He paused. "Right after we convince him that he doesn't have to die, or destroy our property."

"Father, I do not understand. He is dead, we mourned."

"You mourned prematurely. He was dead, but Munr has joined with him, though she has not yet explained anything of it to him. The man believes he is to die again and Nicolas Fury will do his best to prevent it. He may try to destroy the cube when it comes to finish the bond with your friend. You must prevent that. The cube is not known for its understanding when it is attacked."

Thor well remembered what happened to those the cube deemed a threat.

"Yes, Father. I do not understand how this all transpired, but I will do as you command." A sudden thought came to him and he smiled. Seeing it, Odin smiled as well.

"And yes, you may see your Jane again - but only once the conduit is stable. Can't have him going about blowing up a world you just helped them save now can you?" He smiled a bit warmer then and Thor smiled a bit more.

"No, Father, that would not be wise."

PDPDPD

The group was led down long corridors and through endless twists and turns. Tony suspected Fury just liked annoying visitors but Clint mentioned that it threw people off when they didn't know what was around the next corner. And Fury liked keeping people a bit off balance.

Finally, they entered a small meeting room and Fury looked up, expressionless.

"Sit," he motioned to the seats around him. No one did.

"He's alive," Clint said, watching Fury's face closely. A brief flash of what may have been guilt crossed over the director's grim glare to be replaced by steel.

"For now. If you care to take a seat, I can explain." No one moved. "Oh for the love of - please sit down and I will answer whatever questions I deem appropriate."

"Do you dress in the dark?" Tony asked as Pepper covered her eyes to keep from watching her boyfriend get splattered against a wall. The others hid the beginnings of smirks and sat down. Tony may have no respect for authority, but he knew how to get his team in line.

"I'll make this short. Phil Coulson died from a fatal injury delivered by Loki. At the precise moment of death, an alien technology that had eluded us appeared before me and made a deal. Coulson would live if I allowed the technology to bond with him."

"Kinky," Tony said.

"Mentally, Stark. The chip is a sentient manifestation of thought. It has no physical body, in fact, it was simply resting inside the bit of Tesseract your father had in the lab. That manifestation knows the way to Asgard," he said and Tony shook his head.

"And that is what this is really about. You don't care about Agent at all - you want to pummel Thor's homeworld."

"I want a lot of things, Stark. I want to know where Asgard is and what type of threat it can hold for our world. I want to see Loki neutralized and proof that he can't ever compromise national security again. But most of all, I want Phil Coulson alive. Now - here is what you need to do. Find him, bring him back - with the Tesseract. Then let us do our job."

"You think you can just tell us to go do all the work and - wait a minute," Tony stopped talking. "Find him?"

"He's not here," Bruce said, putting the pieces together.

"He is not," Fury confirmed as he turned back to Tony. "Stark, why do I hear Miss Lewis' voice coming from your pants?"

PDPD

The beer disappeared within the first half hour. Then Darcy remembered they were supposed to be listening in on the super secret meeting. Happy paused, blinking, as if he could not remember which button to push. He grimaced.

"I can't think with this much beer flowing through me, I'm gonna find the little boys room." He left but before Darcy could think to sneak off on her own, he was back, holding a bottle of vodka from the backseat bar. "I'm back! And - look what I found." She looked in the glove compartment and found two glasses. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"You gonna mix beer and hard liquor on an empty stomach?" she asked, hearing his stomach growl.

"I live for danger," he said proudly and they opened the bottle. Happy flipped a switch and they could hear Nick Fury explaining the mission. Halfway through the bottle, Darcy's eyes blurred.

"Did he just say he wanted Phil?" Darcy asked, amazed. "Well he can't have him. I called dibs back in New Mexico but he died."

"He said he wanted Phil alive," Happy explained, lingering on the last word. "So I guess wherever he is, I'll - I'll be driving. Drive, drive, drive. It's all I seem to do anymore. No one wants to take a bus."

"Can you imagine Tony Stark on a bus? He'd probably throw everyone off the bus and turn the whole thing into a rolling brothel."

"Hey, the boss doesn't go for things in for things like that anymore. He's got Miss Potts."

"Good woman," Darcy said, gulping down vodka, ignoring the still not filled glass in front of her. "You know what?" He shrugged."She works hard, I bet, keeping Stark in line. We should help. We can bec-become super heroes. I'll be Sarcasm Girl and you can be...Driver Dude."

"Driver Dude? That is possible the worst super hero name I have ever heard. How about Captain Danger?"

"Are you like twelve? Captain Danger? Who's your sidekick, Sargeant Silly Pants?" The door flew open and Clint stuck his head inside, grinning.

"You got him drunk?" He shook his head. "You really do belong with us." Looking past him, she could see the rest of the Avengers, Nick Fury standing behind them, sighing. Darcy grinned.

"Yay me!" Then she winked at Nick Fury, right before passing out.


	5. Chapter 5

Thunder rumbled through the otherwise still night, and Phil Coulson needed a distraction. Leaning back into the cheap leather seat, he thought back on the first time he'd seen Darcy Lewis. She hadn't noticed him as she started harassing the junior agents tearing down Dr. Foster's equipment. Her eyes flashed as they ignored her taunts. Then she'd gotten that look on her face that Phil had quickly learned meant trouble.

An hour later, as the convoy went to pull out, the men were surprised to realize that someone had let the air out of their tires and hidden the air compressor in a filing cabinet. Though Darcy had casually mentioned it had been filed under A for air so it wasn't like it was hidden, right? Phil had raced around efficiently (but maybe swearing slightly) getting everything on the road at the required time and Darcy had been smiling like a little girl at Christmas. Before she realized he was staring at her, she may have even smiled at him.

Not for the first time that day, he really had wished he'd had time to get to know her a little. His heart rate sped up and he smiled, thinking of how her lips would have tasted if he'd kissed her. Maybe get to know her  _ **more**  _than a little. He coughed to clear his head, he really needed to stop focusing on someone he was never going to see again. The feelings he had started to have for her had seemed to grow lately, ever since he'd woken up - he'd  _ **needed**  _to think about her. Was it stress? Or was he finally letting go of old hangups and fears now that he knew he was going to die?

A year ago, he was working with a team of superheros. Now he was in the middle of the desert, driving to have his head explode. Not really the way he'd planned for his illustrious demise. Thunder rolled again, louder this time and it was followed by a huge trident of lightning that filled the entire sky. This was not normal. This was familiar, though and Phil frowned. Did the Tesseract need an escort from Asgard? Maybe a witness was needed.

He didn't have much time to think about it, as his car stalled the middle of the road and the god of thunder flew down from the sky, followed by the cube itself. The man landed gracefully thirty feet in front of his car and looked up at his friend.

"Son of Coul," Thor called. "It is time to meet your destiny."

"Lovely," Phil muttered and got out of the car. As he walked towards Thor, he could hear Darcy's voice.  _ **"Phil. Mine. Going."**_

And in that moment, he wished she was with him again.

PDPDPD

"You brought her with you," Fury said. Not exactly a question, more like an almost amused sigh. "I did mention she was not invited."

"She's my red shirt," Tony announced brightly.

"She's a civilian," Fury shot back.

"So am I, unless you've drafted me without my consent," Pepper added.

"Drafting you with your consent means you've enlisted," Clint said, straight faced. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Don't start, I have enough to deal with managing Tony," she said, trying to look stern.

"Miss Potts, I'd suggest you take Miss Lewis and," Fury peeked inside, "your driver somewhere safe before proceeding on your search for our package."

"You don't have a package she needs to look for, Fury," Tony said and Bruce smacked him.

"What was that for?" Tony asked.

"Pepper's on the other side of the car. Someone had to do it." Fury rubbed his face, weary.

"Just go. Find your objective, retrieve it, and go."

They piled into the car, transferring Darcy and Happy to the back seat as Pepper drove. Tony had immediately jumped in the front seat as navigator. Pepper pointed out that they had no clue where they were headed. Clint may have mentioned that made Stark the perfect navigator. There may have been ice from the backseat cooler, thrown by two seemingly grown men.

On the way back to New York, Darcy woke up slightly. "I'm comin' with you. He's mine."

"Excuse me what?" Clint asked, amused.

"Phil. Mine. Going." Darcy said, still hazy and at that moment, she started to tingle. She must have been lying on her arm funny. "Why am I in the back seat? I was in the front seat."

"You're a bit tipsy," Bruce said, helping her sit up. She looked over at Happy who was snoring away. "He's sleeping. Captain Danger never sleeps. It's a rule."

"Well, Captain Danger drank numerous beers and half a bottle of vodka. Which you did as well," Clint reminded her. "You should be sleeping too."

"Nah, have the metabolism of a squirrel." At Clint's look she frowned. "What? Squirrels have a high metabolism. I learned that in science class. Or maybe Wikipedia, it's a little blurry right now." She straightened. "And I  _ **am**  _going. If you are getting near the Tesseract thingy, then Thor will be there. I need to talk to him about Jane. She's killing herself trying to find a way to him and he's - he's writing love letters to Brucie over here."

"Ok, people really need to stop calling me that," Bruce muttered, but no one was paying him any attention. As she'd been speaking, she'd also been glowing, a faint golden light that was getting brighter. She looked down at her hands and frowned.

"I'm glowing," she muttered and a burst of light blinded everyone in the car.

PDPD

"If you've come to kill me, do it now," Phil shouted into the wind. A crack appeared in the sky and as Phil looked up, he could swear he saw people staring down at him. A man with one eye covered watched him, a woman at his side. He looked back over to Thor who levitated the cube towards him. Jumping back, Phil pulled his gun. The cube glowed and daggers flew from it towards Phil.

"No, Son of Coul - do not attack, it means you no harm," Thor called out. A car mysteriously appeared and people jumped out, weapons at the ready. The cube made a hissing noise and spun to attack them. Phil shot at it and the man in the sky shook his head, irritated.

"Phil," Pepper cried, running towards him. Darcy came out of the car, still glowing, still staring at her hands. She looked up and saw him, watching her.

"How?" she asked, and fainted.

And that's when the cube started to grow.


	6. Chapter 6

"Means me no harm? What do you call that?" Phil yelled over the now howling winds, coverering his eyes at the sudden sandstorm. Looking to where he could barely see the other car's headlights, he paused. What was Darcy doing here? Why was she on the ground? He needed to see her, make sure she was all right. The Cube seemed to be watching Phil, judging him somehow.

"Please calm yourself," Thor cried out as Phil's face took on a dangerous grimace. His Darcy was on the ground, not moving. _**His** _ Darcy? He didn't think about how that thought came into his head but he knew he needed to make sure she was all right.

Phil tried to run to her, but the cube was getting larger and closer, humming in a decidely ominous way. The winds kicked up even more sand and he fought to breathe. He heard a calm voice in his head telling him he would be held safe for his soul mate.

"Who the hell are you?" he muttered. _**Munr**_ , the voice said, _**my name is Munr and I will protect you**_ , **_brave warrior._**

"Protect me from having my brain splatter? A little late aren't you?" he called into the wind. Now in his Iron Man suit, Tony was able to hear him and frowned, glancing at Banner who stood next to him, trying to see the Cube up close.

"Delusions?" he said quietly, not needing to shout through his helmet.

"Hard to tell, he seems a bit disoriented," Bruce shouted back, staring at the agent through the kicked up sand. Pepper had reached Darcy and was holding her, trying to get her to wake up and get back into the car. Clint was taking aim at the growing Tesseract, trying to find a weak spot. A bolt of power shot out from the alien box and knocked the archer onto his butt.

"Can't you Hulk out or something?" Clint yelled.

"I'm not angry, just," Bruce spat out sand, "curious." He turned towards Tony again. "What do you think is causing Phil to talk to himself like that?"

"Maybe it's the drugs S.H.I.E.L.D. gave him, Fury likes to mess with people's heads," Tony shrugged, edging closer to Phil. He held up his hands and looked at the giant box, now spinning ominously if front of them. "We come in peace," he intoned gravely. The Cube shot out a warning bolt of lightning that hit Tony's foot, causing him to hop erratically in circles. Bruce would have laughed if he wasn't fearing for their lives.

"Son of Coul, you must accept Munr into your soul - embrace the Cube of Power," Thor called to him, blowing hair out of his mouth. God of Thunder he may be, but he still hated hair blowing into his mouth during these shows of magic. Perhaps he would allow the servant girls to braid his hair as they had so often begged to do over the centuries.

"You want me to hug that thing?" Coulson yelled, spitting sand out of his mouth.

Clint jumped up and covered his eyes, cursing the fact that his arrow wouldn't reach the target in this storm but still needing to try to help his friends. Pepper called to him to help her get Darcy into the car and he ran to the women, still muttering under his breath.

The cube abruptly stopped spinning and shot a bolt of green light at Phil, engulfing the man in emerald flames. Everyone froze, staring at the display of sheer power. Tony tried to get to him, but a blast from the Cube sent him flying backwards into his car, shaking it with a loud crash. Phil's eyes seemed to change, turning golden. He disappeared within moments and the Cube spun faster. Darcy began to glow again and disappeared as well. Pepper gasped, looking around for her friends.

"Tony, what's going on?" Pepper cried out.

Suddenly, the man in the clouds could take no more. Waving a hand, the people below were all removed from the sand storm and brought somewhere safe, along with the Cube. Both cars stayed behind, leaving no trace of its former occupents. Well, except one.

A few minutes later, Happy stumbled from the limo, looking around at the eerie quiet.

"Where did everyone go?"

DPDPDPD

Jane Foster stretched, reaching for her coffee cup. Hmm, empty again. She hadn't remembered drinking it, but she'd been so enthralled with the computer system in her new suite. Usually Darcy made a point of refilling her coffee when she was lost in research. An empty cup of coffee meant Darcy was not nearby. This worried her.

She frowned, she hadn't heard Darcy nag her to take a nap or shower. That was very un-Darcy and it made Jane wonder just where her assistant was. She stared at the ceiling for a minute, then shrugged.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

"Yes, Dr. Foster?" the disembodied voice asked politely.

"Do you know where Miss Lewis is?"

A pause. "Miss Lewis?"

"Yes, my intern - she's not here. Did she say where she was going?"

"Meeting room A, Dr. Foster."

"Fine. Show me how to get to meeting room A," she said, heading for the door.

"Of course, but she is no longer there," the AI offered. Jane frowned again.

"Well where is she?"

"Now?"

"Yes, J.A.R.V.I.S. - now. You do know where she is, don't you? She didn't run off on her own somewhere, did she?" That was so like Darcy, give the girl a little bit of well deserved freedom and she would disappear before you finished saying 'be careful'.

"No, Doctor, she's with members of the Avengers Initiative, or - rather, she was." J.A.R.V.I.S seemed puzzled and cautious, which made Jane panic just a little.

"What did they do with Darcy?" Jane asked tightly.

"She went with them to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Oh. I am not certain she wanted you to know that. She seems a bit secretive for her age."

"Why did they go to S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Jane asked calmly.

"You'd have to ask Director Fury, Doctor, I am not at liberty to say. Though I will tell you that she is no longer at HQ."

Jane felt the beginnings of a migraine coming on and she rubbed her temples to shake the dread she felt approaching.

"Then where is she?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, Doctor - my sensors stopped registering her sometime ago when she left the planet."

"She - what? Get me a car and get me to Fury - now," Jane said, running to the elevator.

"And a driver?"

"Just give me the keys and directions to HQ," Jane shouted, punching the elevator button more times than necessary.

"Of course, Dr. Foster. Will you be needing a weapon?"

"What? No, not this time. Just point me in the right direction and leave this to me. Darcy is famous for getting into trouble."

"Then she found the correct group of people to asssociate with, Dr. Foster," the AI said, almost amused as she reached the garage and saw the multitude of armored vehicles.

"That's what I'm afraid of, J.A.R.V.I.S.," she answered, jumping into the nearest car and speeding off into the night, the GPS pre programmed to get to S.H.I.E.L.D. thanks to the robotic butler.

"I supposed I should have mentioned my sensors picked up Thor's signature in that desert," the AI mused. "Ah well, she'll find out soon enough, I'm sure."

PDPDPD

Nick Fury was pacing and swearing which meant agents were avoiding and hiding. Putting a tracking device on Stark's car was easy enough with Hogan and Lewis getting drunk in the front seat. But the signal had stopped working. That wasn't the strange part though. It was _**how** _ it stopped working, as if it was ripped out of existence right after being whisked off to New Mexico. He wasn't going to ponder how the car had gotten to New Mexico within a half hour of leaving New York, but he was going to have some questions on how the tracking device seemed to have self destructed.

Ordering the helijet fueled and fired up, he strode purposefully towards the hanger. A loud argument caught his attention only because the female voice yelling at Agent Hill was familiar. Too familiar.

"I don't care if I have to scream for the next several hours, someone is going to tell me what you've done with Darcy," Jane was saying, brandishing a stapler. Fury resisted the urge to sigh and walked over to where the women were facing off against each other.

"Hill, how did she get in here," Fury asked a little too calmly.

"Short circuited a control panel and made her way into the labs. Where apparently she chose to arm herself," Hill's dry explanation only served to ignite Jane's already simmering anger.

"Did you order them to bring her here? To keep me in line? I can tell you now, that is not going to happen. Give her back to me and she and I will go back to New Mexico immediately."

"Miss Lewis has already gone back to New Mexico," Fury did sigh this time and seemed to make a decision. "Come with me."

"Are you taking me to Darcy?" Jane asked, suspicious of his easy acceptance.

"In a manner of speaking," he affirmed. "And Doctor, you can put down the stapler now. I can assure you that there is no paperwork hiding around the next corner waiting to attack you."

Jane looked down at the stapler and handed it to Agent Hill. She had the grace to look slightly embarassed as she ran to keep up with the Director.

In the Helijet, Fury stared down Jane with his one good eye, somehow making him look even more menacing.

"Doctor Foster, have you ever heard of the Tesseract?"


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing Tony noticed when his eyes opened was that he was no longer in his Iron Man suit. His stomach felt as if he'd been on a roller coaster to hell and back. Sitting up slowly, he took a confused look around, noting the silence. Where had the storm gone? And where had his suit gone? He was in a giant dome of some kind, the stars shining around it like sentinels guarding this quiet space. Tony didn't trust silence, too many bad thoughts followed.

Part of him wondered if he'd been dreaming the entire evening up to this point, and had he woken up yet. The next thing he noticed was that Pepper wasn't in the room. If he had been dreaming, she'd still be there when he woke up, he knew that because she'd always been there after a bad dream. It was just the way things worked. He jumped up, tripping over Clint and Bruce who were sitting up now, trying to figure out where they were.

"Pepper? Pepper where are you?" Tony yelled, bumping into something large and solid. Looking up, he found himself staring into the golden eyes of a very tall, very imposing man in armor.

"Who the hell are you?" Tony said, trying not to panic. Tony Stark did not panic - at least, not lately. At least, not in front of other people, especially nine foot tall golden eyed centurions. He shook the bad thoughts from his mind and glared up at the guard who raised an eyebrow as he spoke. Tony knew in that moment he did not like this man at all.

"My name is Heimdall. Your woman is safe, Midguardian. Follow the bridge to the All Father's throne to be judged." The man pointed in the direction of a long road and then took a step back, folding his arms across his chest and staring into space.

Tony frowned. "Safe? Safe where? Where are we?" The man didn't answer, merely staring more intently into the cosmos. Ok, Tony thought looking around, this is definitely not New Mexico.

"Did Fury come by and kidnap us or something?" Tony asked Bruce who was already putting the pieces into place.

"Um, Tony - he said Midguardian," Bruce whispered and let that sink into Tony's brain for a few moments. When the realization hit Tony, he bit his lower lip, thinking dark thoughts. As for the archer, Clint's eyes grew wide, glancing around half expecting Loki to jump out of a shadow. Instinctively he reached for an arrow and realized his quiver was missing. Glancing around the floor, he noticed his bow was gone too. Damn. He looked at his two companions and shrugged.

"Follow the yellow brick road?"

"Fine," Tony nodded, leading the way. "But I get to be Dorothy."

PDPD

Darcy woke slowly, savoring each moment between sleep and chaos. Once she was awake, she knew she'd have to start making Jane's coffee and getting memos typed. She wondered if her mother would call her next week since it was Darcy's birthday then frowned, eyes still closed.

She felt someone pulling at her toga and swatted their hand away, mumbling something about the scientific need for sleep and shouldn't Jane appreciate science? The tugging became a shake and someone was calling her name.

"Five more minutes, Jane," Darcy mumbled. She heard a sigh, no big surprise there. The surprise came three seconds later when Pepper Pott's voice came through loud and clear along with the realization she was wearing a toga.

"Darcy, I really think it's time you woke up now." Darcy's eyes shot open and she sat up to find herself on an opulent bed with finely spun golden sheets. She was dressed in a royal purple toga with silver threads interwoven into the fabric. Looking over at Pepper, she noticed the other woman wore a similiar toga, red fabric highlighted with golden threads.

"Yeah, I'd like to wake up too," Darcy said, looking around some more. "What happened?" A flash of memory hit her and she fell back against the ornate headboard. Was that Thor's face carved into the wood fighting some kind of squid? Her head hurt and she needed a strong drink.

"Phil - I mean, Agent Coulson - where is he? I did see him didn't I?" A tray with a silver pitcher and two glasses appeared as if by magic on the table next to her bed and Pepper stared at it.

"You did - we all did. Then we ended up here, though I have no idea where here is," Pepper said, pouring a glass of what looked like wine from the carafe on the table. She handed it to Darcy. "Normally I don't recommend drinking in strange places, but in this case, I think it's warranted." Darcy took the glass and watched as Pepper poured one for herself.

"Well, I don't think this is a prison," Darcy surmised. "But where is everyone else?" _**And Phil**_ , her mind whispered, but she ignored the longing in her heart for now. Really, she barely knew the man, there should be _**no** _ longing in her heart. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she should be with him right now. She felt him nearby and that worried and calmed her at the same time.

"The men are on their way to Odin's throne room for judgment," a voice answered and the two looked up to see a regal older woman smiling at them. "They attacked the Cube and must answer for that. Though I am sure my son will assist in that matter. Come ladies, pour another drink and I will explain all to you."

"And you would be?" Darcy asked, pouring a glass that mysteriously appeared next to the carafe. She was beyond wondering anything at this point.

"I am Frigga, Queen of Asgard, wife of Odin, mother of Prince Thor - and Prince Loki." She whispered the last name with a note of sadness and Pepper felt an urge to hug her. Must be the wine, she thought as she followed the woman out onto a balcony.

"You're Loki's mom? I didn't realize he had a mom," Darcy said before shrugging in apology. "Sorry, mouth running off again."

"No it is quite all right, I assure you. My son has behaved like a child and is being punished, but that is not why you are here." She motioned for the two to sit with her in cushioned chairs facing the vast beauty of a fantasy landscape. The night sky blazed with constellations they had never seen and the fields below them stretched out into eternity, blossoming with flowers that seemed to move to the music gently floating on the night air.

"So...why are we here?" Pepper asked. "And you said this is Asgard. As in Norse Mythology."

"As in my home," the queen answered softly. "And in the Lady Darcy's as well, if she so chooses."

"Um, lady? I'm not usually called that," Darcy grinned weakly. "Why me?"

"Because the Cube has chosen Phillip Coulson as its conduit and Phillip Coulson has chosen you."

"Chosen - me. As what exactly?" Darcy asked, taking a long gulp of wine. It was nearly empty, but refilled itself magically. Darcy didn't ask, she only drank it down again waiting for an answer.

"As his mate of course. You have been chosen for a great honor Darcy Lewis. You are the mate of the Conduit."

PDPD

Jane Foster was a scientist. She dealt in facts, numbers, equations and rules. Fact one, Thor was a god of some sort, though she really wondered if ancient civilizations had called him that out of ignorance. Maybe he was just an alien. She pushed that thought aside for fact two.

Fact two - Thor had been writing Bruce letters which reminded her about what should have been fact one - this man across from her on the Helicarrier had stolen something of hers. Something important.

"What happened to my letter?" she answered, ignoring the Tesseract question. Fury didn't answer, his silence echoing inside the giant cabin. "The letter Thor wrote to me, you took it, didn't you?"

"National security sometimes requires we confiscate items. It could have been some sort of chemical attack."

"You actually expect me to believe that my - that Thor would send me anthrax through a love letter? Try again and this time, do not lie to me." She was acting braver than she felt but stealing her equipment was bad enough. Now they were stealing her heart.

"I don't answer to you, Dr. Foster," Fury said quietly.

"Yeah, I kinda think you do, _**Director** _ Fury. You've held all the cards this whole time and mess with people's lives for what? National security? How secure are we - Darcy is gone, Thor is gone, my research is gone. I'm not feeling very secure right now so you'll excuse me if I don't sit up and beg for a treat like one of you little drones."

"We returned your equipment - and your research."

"You returned just enough to get me started finding the Bridge. All of my research on Thor himself is gone. All of my notes on his physiology, gone. My cell phone came back totally wiped of my contacts though I have no idea what kind of threat you think my Aunt Esther is. Wait, you didn't kill any of my family did you?"

"Doctor," Fury sighed.

"No, we're being honest here, right? You want me to find Asgard so you can get your hands on this tesseract thing. You think you can manipulate me into helping by kidnapping Darcy and hiding my letter from Thor. You deliberately told the Avengers that Agent Coulson was dead so they would fall into your little world domination schemes and did I mention you took my letter? You know what? Screw you."

"We thought it might have directions to Asgard," Fury sighed again.

"What?" Jane's rant slowed down long enough for her to take a breath.

"The letter, we thought Thor would have told you how to get to him since he was going back to Asgard."

Her breath caught. "And did it?"

Fury glared at her. "No."

She absorbed that for a few moments then looked up at him, tears fighting to come loose. "Then why didn't you just give me back my letter?"

"Because it told you to stop trying to find the way to Asgard. That he would find his way to you when it was safe."

"Wait, you withheld my letter so that I'd keep searching for a way to get you into Asgard? Then what? You'd attack?"

"What we'd do with the knowledge is not your concern. Now we have bigger issues. Agent Coulson is in contact with a piece of tech that will lead us to the Tesseract. He cannot be compromised. Now again I ask you, did Thor tell you anything about this technology?"

Jane's glare was eloquent in its silence. She smirked at him, barely holding tears back from falling.

"And again I tell _**you** _ \- screw you."


	8. Chapter 8

Phil woke up and shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs lingering inside. He didn't think death would feel like this. For one thing, he was still breathing. You didn't have to breathe when you were dead, did you? He glanced down to see he was lying on a bed with dark green sheets. Very expensive sheets from the feel of them. Maybe heaven wouldn't be so bad after all.

Getting up off of the bed, he took a good look at his surroundings. The bed itself looked as though all four posts were living oak trees, looking up, he could see the foliage swaying slightly in a cool breeze. He could see a darkened sky filled with giant shapes of flying creatures he could just barely recognize as birds. Or dragons. He could hear some sort of crickets chirping and running water of some kind. Rubbing his eyes, he made his way to a full length mirror to see if dead people still had a reflection. He was relieved to see himself until he noticed his eyes.

Golden brown replaced the sharp blue he was used to and he rubbed his eyes to see if it was a trick of the light. Wind chimes sounded from somewhere off to the side and a female voice sighed.

"Son of Coul, my Conduit, welcome to Asgard," the voice said and he swiftly turned to see a young girl, approximately sixteen, smiling at him.

"Your voice - you were the one who spoke to me, Mooner?"

"Munr," she said, rolling her 'r' slightly. "I am the voice of the Cube."

"The Tesseract," he said blandly.

"Not exactly - what you call the Tesseract is only a small portion of the Cube. It's a gateway of sorts to other timelines, but it has not the power of the Cube itself."

"It seemed pretty powerful to me," he said, staring at her. "What did you call me?"

"Conduit - my magic within your brain keeps you alive. The reason I did not answer you was because I did not hear you. I don't invade your thoughts. I had no clue you needed my assistance past finding our way back here. So I stayed out of your mind. And I can't enter without good cause. Like someone attacking the Cube."

"And you guard the Cube?"

"I am the Cube. Well, I'm what you would call the soul of the Cube - I exist within it to keep balance between absolute power and the natural order of the universes."

"There's more than one?"

"Of course. Asgard itself is not of your universe, just as the Cube is not of Asgard. Odin crafted it somewhere else, far away, as a outlet of excess power. It collects power from all, and releases it when needed."

"Like some sort of battery." At her nod, he sat down.

"So I'm in Asgard," he said.

"Only because the Cube is in Asgard. Odin called us home."

"I can see calling you home, but I live on Earth. You can send me back anytime now. Unless I'm dead. I'm - not dead, right?"

Munr laughed. "No, silly man you aren't dead. You will never be dead as long as I live within you. And neither will your mate."

"My - what?"

"Darcy Lewis, the woman you were wishing for as the Cube came for you. She is your chosen mate and so she has come to Asgard as well." She paused. "Odin brought along all of your companions. Except for the man in the long black car, he was needed to tell the one eyed man of your destiny." A look of embarrassment came over her. "I think I forgot to tell Mr. Hogan that though."

"Darcy? She's here? Is she all right? Has she been hurt? Where is she?" Phil asked, ignoring the update on Happy's location.

"Calm yourself, Son of Coul, all will be revealed at the inquiry."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Your friends attacked the Cube, they are being led to the All Father even as we speak. When we are called, we too shall join them in the throne room. As will your Darcy."

My Darcy, he thought then shook the thought away. She was never going to understand any of this and he couldn't explain it to her because he was just as clueless. His heart rate sped up, he didn't understand, but he felt Darcy nearby. He could almost believe that she could feel him too and that filled his heart with such longing he almost fell over from it. He had to stop thinking about her. Focus on the here and now.

"So they attacked you protecting me? Idiots."

"They are loyal but attacking one of Odin's creations does not make the All Father happy." She paused. "Time to wake up, Son of Coul."

"Wake up - what-" his question was interupted by a blinding light and somehow Phil found himself dressed in something Thor would wear and standing in front of golden double doors.

"Go inside, Conduit," Munr's voice whispered. "Our destiny awaits."

pdpdpd

Trumpets blared as the mighty doors opened. Guards lined the path to the front of the gilded room and curious onlookers stood just behind the line of men. They watched as Tony, Bruce, and Clint were escorted to a large dais where a stern one eyed man sat glaring down at them.

"Kneel," the man commanded. Clint was about to object when Bruce pulled him down.

"Don't upset the man with the spear," he hissed. Odin smiled.

"Gungnir is quite impressive, I agree," Odin nodded to the men. "But I rarely throw it in my own throne room."

"You're Odin," Bruce said, pulling out his glasses to get a better look. "And this is really Asgard. The atmosphere seems a bit denser but I'm not feeling any ill effects. Have you had humans here before?"

"Not for some time, Dr. Banner," Odin answered, leaning forward. "My son has spoken highly of you. A fine warrior with a poet's heart, I believe he said."

"Well, I'm just a man," Bruce flushed and a woman in the crowd, dressed in blue smiled at him. That made him more aware that he did not do well in social settings.

"And Clint Barton, lethal archer and assassin," Odin remarked. "I am pleased to see your recent ordeal has not left you comatose."

"No thanks to Loki," Clint growled. Odin held up a hand.

"There is no need to mention him, he will not see you nor been seen by you while you are here. My quarrel is for what you yourselves have done."

"We protected our friend. Where is Phil?" Clint asked. "And our weapons?"

"All in good time." Odin rose from his throne and walked down to the men. "You may rise."

Tony who was still standing, regarding Odin with a skilled eye. "You're Thor's dad." Odin looked at him with equal interest.

"And you are the Man of Iron my eldest speaks of with such respect. Have you none to return for his sire?" Tony huffed then knealt grudgingly. "When in Rome, I suppose."

"Actually Man of Iron, you are in Asgard, as I am certain you've noticed. Why did you attack my property?"

"Property? You mean that spinning box that zapped me? Not very neighborly. And where's Agent? Your box captured him. He's technically U.S. property and there's another one eyed dictator who'd like him back. Oh and that Man of Iron thing? It's just for Thor. I have a name."

"You amuse me, Anthony Stark. And that is why I have not killed you. Do you know the penalty for attacking an Asgardian artifact?"

"You lose your invite to the company picnic?" Tony said, jumping to his feet.

Odin did laugh then and the men heard another voice. Thor appeared from a doorway and hugged them tightly, one by one.

"Have no fear, men. My father wishes to welcome you to our home."

"Where are our weapons?" Clint asked again, watching Odin carefully. "And your other son?"

Odin stopped smiling and appraised the archer thoughtfully. "You were possessed by dark magic and it has tainted your heart. It will take time to release that darkness. Have no fear, Loki is being prepared for his redemption. He is no concern of yours. As for your weapons - first you must answer for your attack on the Cube. Munr is not one to forgive the attack of her home."

"Mooner?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Munr - she is the spirit of the Cube, its guardian if you will. She left the confines of what you call the Tesseract when she sensed an - interference in natural order. Phil Coulson gave his life protecting innocents against a god. It did not go unnoticed."

"But he's not dead. We saw him," Clint said.

"You did. He was joined to Munr. She saved him as her Conduit and I have brought them here to learn how to fight together against all who may harm them. At the moment, that includes the three of you, unless you can show otherwise. Your loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nicholas Fury may someday contradict your supposed loyalty to the Son of Coul and his destiny. Can any of you say you would disregard direct orders from Fury to help your friend?"

"Obviously you don't know them very well," Coulson's voice came from the doorway. "They disregard orders as easily as breathing."

The humans stared at their friend and watched as he walked over to them. His eyes were back to blue now and he was grinning.

"Hello Avengers," he said and Tony swore under his breath, as he went to hug the man tightly. After a moment, he jumped back, pretending to brush off dust from his clothes.

"That never happened," Tony said seriously.

Phil smiled. "Of course not."

PDPD

Pepper had listened to this woman explain how Thor and Loki had grown up, the competition, the anger, the years of misunderstandings. Then she'd listened to how Loki had been pulled into a dark place that none had been able to reach. She took another sip of wine and thought about it some more. She couldn't say she sympathized with the god of mischief, but she did see how he could have been led astray. Darcy, however, was not of the same mind.

"You didn't see that - thing in New Mexico try to kill Thor. And your own boyfriend rode a freakin' missile into a black hole. A missile?" She waved her arms around wildly and Pepper giggled.

"You - are tipsy. And you weren't really sober when you got here."

"Hah, metabolism of a squirrel, remember? I know how to hold my liquor," Darcy said archly. "Loki's a little pain in the a-" Pepper put a hand over Darcy's mouth as the queen rolled her eyes. A tiny part of the queen was beginning to agree with the loud Midgardian female. Loki indeed was a handful to even the most patient of mothers.

"Just not your tongue," Pepper said wide eyed and the queen shook her head. Was it getting warmer in here? She had been drinking with the two lovely young women and getting to know them. She was quite pleased with both of them - they were worthy of visiting Asgard.

"Well...you're not - not that sober yourself, Pipper," Darcy slurred.

"Pepper," Pepper corrected.

"Picked a peck of pickled peepers," Darcy said, laughing.

"That's peppers," Pepper giggled again.

"That's you," Darcy said and high fived Pepper who almost fell over. The queen found herself giggling then froze. Queens did not giggle. Or drink to excess.

"Ladies, I must tell you something," Frigga said seriously. They both grew silent in anticipation.

"Ladies, I believe that I have imbibed quite a bit of wine. I may not be able to stand on my own."

"We'll help you," Darcy decided. She jumped up and immediately fell back onto her chair. "Oops. That didn't work out the way I planned."

Pepper stood slowly and smiled as she realized that she could stand without help. "Let me help you both. Um, where were we going?"

"The throne room to see the men," Frigga said. "Why should we wait to be summoned, like we are children? Let us go and sort through the misunderstandings men allow far too often."

"Yes," Darcy and Pepper said together. The women made their way to the door and Frigga motioned away the guards outside.

"I will be leading our guests to the throne room. Away with you," she commanded. The guards shared a look then moved out of the way as the women weaved a bit unsteadily to Odin's domain.


	9. Chapter 9

The crowd of Asgardians and guests watched as their king spoke to the humans. Avalyn in particular watched the son of Coul in fascination, her long blonde hair almost covering her violet eyes. She was a sorceress by birth, but had spent her days searching for someone with even more power. She had always craved a man who could satisfy both her body and her magic. This human had bonded with Munr, his powers were to be feared and coveted. And she was coveting quite a bit. She took in the long, muscular legs shown off by the warrior garb he now wore and made a note to see if the rest of him was just as firm.

"Isn't he amazing?" a woman near her whispered. She arched a blonde brow and smiled.

"Indeed. He will be a welcome addition to our army." And my bed, she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Odin was speaking to the humans in a stern tone of voice. Avalyn strained to hear more clearly.

"And now, Son of Coul, you and Munr are to pass judgement on your comrades. Shall they be executed for their folly?" Odin's eye seemed to twinkle and Thor bit back a laugh. Bruce glanced back at the woman in blue who was still smiling at him and smiled cautiously back before being hit in the ribs by Tony's elbow. Clint still looked a bit ill, but relieved to see his friend alive and well.

Phil looked over at his Avengers with a certain amount of pride and exasperation. They had risked their lives for him. They had accepted him back and not forgotten him.

"Well, they did try to save me," Phil said, shrugging like it didn't really matter.

"Only because Fury said your head was going to explode," Tony interjected. "Otherwise, I was gonna just stay out of it."

"He thought, what?" Thor asked, amazed. "Where would the man get an idea like that? Munr - show yourself."

A humming came from somewhere near Phil and his eyes turned brown again. Odin sighed as he knew what was to come now.

"Did you tell Director Fury this, Munr?" Thor demanded. A hazy form appeared next to Phil and the Avengers stared. Munr was standing there looking innocent and devious, her usual appearance. Tony almost wolf whistled, but as he could see right through this girl, uh no. She was only about five feet tall, slender and her hair piled upon her head, looking every inch a Norse goddess.

"Greetings Prince of Asgard," Munr curtsied. "It is indeed an honor to see you once again."

"Munr," Odin said quietly and the girl's lips twisted into a sort of grimace.

"I only told the man what he wanted to hear. The son of Coul would die without me, that was no lie."

"But exploding heads," Thor said trying not to laugh.

"My conduit and I have begun our bond. Not even the Fury can dissolve it. And where is his mate? The Lady Darcy?"

"The Lady who?" Tony asked, amazed. "I've met Darcy Lewis and she's," he caught the death glare Phil was sending him and shut up quickly. "Uh, I mean, congrats Agent, lovely girl."

"Miss Lewis is not my mate, Stark. There is an explanation." No one noticed Avalyn's slight glare.

"She is your mate!" Munr said, shocked. "You two have wished for each other in intercourse for some time now - I sensed it months ago." Phil turned red at that and Tony started laughing hysterically. This time Bruce's elbow found its way into Tony's ribs. Even Clint seemed to stifle a chuckle.

"We willl have a feast in honor of the conduit's arrival. Servants will show you all to your chambers, see that the conduit and his mate are put in a special suite for privacy. They have much to discuss." Frigga's voice rang from the doorway. Everyone turned to see the queen and two women walk slowly into the room. Tony immediately ran to Pepper who smiled up at him, waving.

"Pepper, are you all right? You're not walking steady."

"I'm fine, Man of Iron," she said, saluting. "My friends and I decided to come watch the show. Oh hi Thor and ooh look Darcy - your Son of Coul is here. Nice legs, Phil."

Tony stared at her and a grin fought its way onto her face. "Virginia Potts, you are intoxicated."

"I am - most certainly am not intox- intoxicy, I'm not drunk."

"You are. I have to say, this is a lovely change of pace," Tony teased, putting his arm around her. She leaned into him and smiled.

"So, you are looking kind of cute. Still have your head and everything. That's good to see." Pepper took a deep breath and waved at her friends. "Darcy and I have been having such a good time. Asgard is awesome."

"Darcy," Clint said, trying not to laugh. "Did you get them drunk? What is it with you and booze?"

"Hey, it wasn't me! Queen Frigga gave us magic wine. Let me tell you, she's a trooper. Four glasses and she can still see straight." She tried to focus. "Is that you, Clint?"

"Yep, maybe you need a nap."

"Yeah," she looked over and finally noticed Phil. Her eyes grew wide and her heart rate started increasing. What was he wearing? And how could she get him out of it? She shook her head. "Queen Frigga, will you fall over if I let go?"

Odin regarded his wife carefully. Was she intoxicated as well? The queen smirked and got out of the ladies grasp. "I can assure you I have had more than four glasses of wine before."

"And passed out shortly after," Thor mumbled to Bruce, who bit his lip from smiling. Who knew what would make these people throw them into a prison cell? Frigga was speaking again and Odin was trying to look stern.

"Husband, make the order for our party. There must be celebration of the joining of our conduit and this fine lovely girl. Lady Darcy, your mate is speechless. Go to him before he opens his mouth and ruins it," the queen said slurring her words a bit.

Odin covered his good eye and sighed. After a moment he walked over to his wife and led her to her throne. Giving her a warning look, he went back down to his guests and tried to regain order.

Darcy had made her way to Phil, never taking her eyes off of him. Standing in front of him now, she said nothing. He was alive and looking at her and wearing Asgardian kick ass clothes and she was never letting him get out of her sight again.

"Agent Coulson," she said softly. "Hi."

Coulson's heart was pounding out of his chest. "Miss Lewis."

"You look good. Alive. Alive looks good on you." His lip twitched at that and he nodded.

"I prefer it to the alternative."

"Me too." She swallowed. "Conduit, hmm? Sounds interesting. Lots of perks." Like a mate, she thought to herself, but didn't dare say aloud.

"You look beautiful," he said looking at her toga, lingering on how the fabric molded to her slender frame. "I mean - you look well. I never thought I'd see you again. I'm glad I was wrong."

"Me too," Darcy said again. What was wrong with her, she mentally kicked herself. He reached out and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. She felt herself shiver.

"I'd like to talk with you, maybe after you've taken a nap - cleared your head?" he suggested and she nodded. They turned back to the others, and each pretended they didn't realize that their hands were almost touching.

"So has Fury caught up with the vehicles yet?" Clint asked Odin who nodded.

"As we speak he is on his way to where we found you. And he is not alone. Watch," his hand waved over a spot in front of him and everyone stared into the light swirling mist that appeared. Thor's eyes lit up - his Jane was with Fury! Then he saw the mood she was in and shook his head. He hoped Fury was wearing adequate protection over his nether regions.

\---------

Fury had tried to come up with a way to get Jane to help him figure out his next move. He had threatened, cajoled, and though he would never admit it later, had tried bribing her with grant money. When that didn't work, he may have threatened to take her research again for good this time. Jane, to her credit, did not laugh in the man's face. She really didn't know anything about this Tesseract and she didn't know why Thor would be trying to keep her from finding him. But she did know the scientists at S.H.I.E.L.D. would never figure out her notes without her help. They hadn't been able to in New Mexico and she wasn't feeling charitable towards them now.

"Dr. Foster," he tried again and she folded her arms over her chest, smirking.

"Director Fury. I'm assuming I am coming with you because you think I'm going to be able to see Thor wherever it is we are going. Am I an ally or a bargaining chip today?"

"Naturally we'd expect you to talk to the, er man and get him to discuss things with us. I can assure you that no harm would come to you."

"Harm from who? Thor? Or S.H.I.E.L.D. - my bets on you by the way. Whatever you think you can make him do, I can assure you that I will talk him out of doing."

(Thor smirked at that, his little scientist had the soul of a warrior.)

"Sir," the pilot said, "We've spotted the vehicles."

As the helijet landed, they could see Happy waving at them frantically, coughing from the dust that kicked up with the helijet's landing.

"Thank God you're here," Happy said. "Where did they all go?"

Fury frowned. "We were hoping you would be able to tell us that, Mr. Hogan."

"You don't know where they are?" Jane asked. "Didn't you take them here - where is here, by the way?"

"I don't know," Happy grumbled. "Somewhere in the desert. Which doesn't make sense. We were in New York. I woke up and there was a bunch of sand flying around. Then some lightning and shouting. When I got out of the car, everyone was gone."

"Everyone?" Jane asked. "Thor?"

"Ma'am, I couldn't tell you. I was, um. in the back of the car and from where I was lying, I mean - sitting, I couldn't see much."

"Lightning means he could have been here," Fury muttered. He ordered agents to search the cars for clues and the tracking device. Jane raised a brow at that but said nothing.

"Did you, you know - take them somewhere?" Happy asked Fury who shook his head.

"Not this time, Mr. Hogan."

\------

"They appear to be looking for us," Clint spoke up, smirking a bit. "Fury's got that constipated look."

"Well, then," Odin said, "they will have to join us. But when we have all had a chance to decide how to deal with the situation." Thor looked ready to say something and his father coughed.

"Well, perhaps the Lady Jane could come now and we'll allow Fury in when we've had time to prepare for his arrival." A wave of his hand and Jane was in front of them, looking stunned. Thor ran up to her and embraced her, disappearing a burst of light.

"Where did they go?" Tony asked.

"Off to get some privacy, I'd imagine. Now, all of you- out of my throne room. I do have other business to attend to today." He glanced up at his wife who was sleeping on her throne. "And a queen to escort back to her rooms."


	10. Chapter 10

Clint wandered the gardens, mentally memorizing the placement of guards, the ways the Asgardian palace seemed to be on constant alert even as everything appeared to be calm. Bruce had decided to stay inside, something about libraries and chance of a lifetime studies, so Clint had to walk off some pent up emotion. And get some answers.

Coulson walked alongside him, wondering how to begin.

"Barton, it's really me. You know that right?"

"Of course. I can see it's you. Nice legs, by the way." Clint said, glancing down. Phil rolled his eyes.

"Thanks. I'm guessing you were cleared to work again, after..."

"After Loki. You can say his name. I'm just as sane as I was before the attack. No worries."

"Duly noted. From what Munr tells me, Loki is in some sort of stasis. He can't get out of wherever he is and well, no one can get to him. Not that anyone would try. Right, Barton?"

"Hey, I'm not looking for him if that's what you're getting at, I'm just getting the lay of the land. Noting their infrastructure and determining weak spots in their defense." The glib phrasing made Phil wary.

"You're speaking S.H.I.E.L.D talk, Clint. That's not you."

"Listen, I'm allowed a little paranoia, not that I'd ever suggest I had paranoia." He put his hands on his hips and frowned.  
"This place feels like a powder keg ready to blow."

"Because of Loki," Phil said calmly.

"Because we don't belong here. We're human. At least I am - I don't know what you are. You're one of them now, you have something of them inside of you and they can't be trusted."

"So I can't be trusted, is that what you're saying, Agent Barton?" Phil had slipped into agent mode without missing a beat and Clint took an instinctual step back to gather his thoughts. He raised his hands in a peaceful gesture and tried again.

"What do we know about them? They could kill us without a second thought and we're not on Earth, right? Who's to say that you aren't going to be used like I was because of that chip inside of you? Who's to say they aren't going to spring Loki on us at this party and just be rid of us?"

"Yep. Paranoia seems to be the correct mindset for you. Do you not trust Thor? I heard he assisted in New York."

"Thor's a good guy," Clint conceded.

"And I'm not," Phil said, wryly raising an eyebrow.

"You are. I'm just not sure about your alien hitchhiker."

"Did you go through counseling, Clint?" The concern in Phil's voice almost broke Clint, but he held it inside. Weakness was for children.

"Did you?" Clint countered. "You aren't you anymore, that's gotta do something to a man."

"I can assure you, Agent Barton - I am myself. I am alive and still a senior agent. And still your superior. If you have any official complaint about my loyalty or my mental state, you can take it up with Fury when we get back to New York."

Clint took a deep breath. "No, you know I don't think you're a traitor or anything. I - I just don't want them to use you. It does something to you, having something inside your head, making your choices, taking away your - well, I just don't want to see them do it to you. But we're good. We are." Clint rubbed a hand over his face. "Listen, go see Darcy, we could all see on your face that you want to kiss her or something. I'll be fine."

"Listen, I don't know where we go from here. I'm loyal to my country, to S.H.I.E.L.D. - but there's a lot we don't understand yet. I'm alive and I'm still me. I don't know what more I can guarantee just yet." He paused. "I'm going to go talk with Miss Lewis now, make sure she's all right. Don't get into any trouble before the party."

"Sure. Agent - Phil, look, I'm sorry."

"Just take a longer walk, Clint. And don't kill anyone."

pdpdpd

Darcy sat in her new suite, looking around in awe. The walls were some sort of ivory marble, with thick veins of gold and other metals glistening in the candlelight. Jane and Thor were in his private chambers and there was no way she was going to get in the middle of that action. Occasionally she could hear people walking outside her suite, but no one entered.

She wondered where Phil was. Maybe he was giving her time to be alone. Maybe he wanted her to be alone. She grimaced, the first time she'd seen him since New Mexico and she'd been buzzed. He probably thought she got drunk all the time, which was far from the truth. She hadn't really been much of a party girl in college, but she'd still managed to make a fool out of herself at a few parties. She wondered if that had been in her file.

A knock at the door startled her. She ran to it, flinging it open. Her smile was replaced by a look of confusion. A woman was standing there, tall, blonde and beautiful.

"Can I help you?" Darcy asked. The woman entered the room, looking around. She had an icy beauty to her and Darcy instantly hated her. Jane would say she was irrational without pertinent data, but Darcy knew better. This woman was pure trouble.

"I have come to see the conduit. He is exactly what I've been waiting for and he may escort me to tonight's party."

"Um, no offense, but the party tonight is for myself and Phil. It would be pretty weird if he took another girl. Nice meeting you though." Darcy stood there, arms crossed, wondering if she could throw this woman out of the window and make it look like an accident.

"Silly child, the party is for the conduit. He said himself you are not his mate. It was simply a misunderstanding. He needs a strong woman who can help him grow into his new role. A woman who can appreciate his finer qualities. You do not seem to be that woman. You have not had the years of experience that would make you worthy of such a man." Avalyn waved a dismissive hand at her and sat down.

Darcy was not drunk. But she was still not completely sober. "Look, he isn't here and when he gets here, he wants to talk with me. So you'll have to find someone else to sink your claws into, lady. He's off limits."

"Is he? And what makes you so certain of that, little girl?" Violet eyes stared into blue and Darcy felt a pushing into her mind, as if someone was trying to control her insecurity. Little tendrils of poison tried taking root in Darcy's mind but Darcy pushed back - hard. Avalyn flinched, glaring at the younger woman.

Darcy wasn't sure what had happened, but she knew this witch had to go. She marched over to the door and flung it open. "I'd thank you to get out of Phil's suite. As in not yours. And just so you know - as for Phil - also not yours."

The woman tilted her head and looked carefully at Darcy. She walked to the door and turned back for a moment. "It is of no consequence. I will see him tonight and make my offer. I can assure you that he will be most willing to accept it."

"Then it won't matter that I do this," Darcy said calmly, slamming the door in the other woman's face. Darcy stood there, shaking. How dare that - woman come to her suite and just announce that she was taking Phil? A little voice reminded her that Phil was a grown man and Darcy had no real claim to him. Another voice smacked the first one upside the head and growled. Darcy Lewis had not been dragged to another universe just to be told that the guy she sort of had a crush on (okay, had mad passionate dreams about almost every night) was off limits.

She wondered again where Phil was. What if he ran into that shrew on his way to their suite and she seduced him? What was with that weird mind control thing? And how had she stopped her? She was completely sober now and pacing the room with a determined glower on her face. She was so not convinced on this whole mate thing, but she knew that had felt something for Phil Coulson the moment she'd seen him months ago. Darcy Lewis did not fall in love. She'd only seen the man once before today, right? She grumbled, knowing that wasn't true, but blocking the memory from herself for as long as possible.

She'd seen him once after that day, just for a few minutes, but still. When the dust had settled in New Mexico, she'd found him in Jane's old office searching for something. She'd watched him, wondering why he just didn't have a lackey search for whatever it was he was trying to steal. After a minute, she'd walked into the office and tapped him on the shoulder. He'd never admit it, but she was sure he'd jumped - just a little.

"Miss Lewis - you are supposed to be on a transport to your debriefing."

"Yeah, and you're supposed to be back in whatever cave you hide in when you aren't harrassing young innocent women with knowledge of Norse gods and tazers." He'd almost smirked at that. "What were you looking for, anyway? You've taken most of our stuff."

"Well, I was looking for - coffee." She'd stared at him and started laughing. He looked as though he could kill her with a paper clip, given the opportunity. She took a step back but kept laughing.

"Seriously? You can't afford coffee on your big bad spy salary?"

"Fine. You make good coffee. I figured if I knew what kind..." He shrugged and she ignored the fact that he was looking kind of adorable. He still had her property and now he was trying to steal Jane's coffee.

"You think the coffee is good because of the brand. You poor deluded agent." She'd walked over to him and whispered in his ear. "It's because I'm just - that - good." And with that, she'd walked out of the room and out to a jeep that had taken her far from secret government headaches and away from Phil Coulson.

She'd never told Jane - or anyone about that last meeting and then he'd died and she just had wanted to forget. But he wasn't dead and she knew that there had been some kind of spark. At least for her. And now he was on his way to his - no their suite and they were going to talk. And then there would be a party for them.

She flung herself onto the bed and covered her eyes with an arm. All this aggravation because she had to have a crush on a man who probably was going to fall into bed with a blonde witch at the end of the night. She yawned, and remembered she was supposed to be taking a nap. Closing her eyes, she tried to get the image of Phil with that woman out of her mind. She realized she was being ridiculous, but she was really kicking herself for not throwing the other woman out a window when she'd had the chance.

Phil walked into the suite to see Darcy sprawled across the bed, fast asleep. He stared down at her, smiling. She was just as beautiful as she'd been back in New Mexico. He was happy to know that she was safe and that she was near enough to touch. He stopped smiling at that thought. Touching would be bad.

He yawned, not realizing how tired he'd been on this little trip. Technically, he was still supposed to be recovering and here he was, in Asgard, wearing warrior garb and defending himself against Barton's paranoia. He wondered if he was still S.H.I.E.L.D. if he had Munr's magic inside. Magic - even as recently as a year ago he would have scoffed at the word.

Without thinking, he stretched out on the bed and put his hands behind his head. A little nap wouldn't hurt anything and Miss Lewis looked down for the count. Resisting the urge to reach over and kiss her goodnight, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Darcy stretched in her sleep and felt someone next to her. She smiled. This was a good dream. She reached out and put her arms around her dream man, snuggling into his side. Warm lips were at her temple and she shivered, smelling the cologne she recognized as Phil's. Well, if she could only have him in a dream, it would have to do.


	11. Chapter 11

Jane was dizzy and overwhelmed, and usually that was how she made other people feel when she started talking a mile a minute. She tried wrapping her mind around the past few hours. Everything had happened so fast and she still couldn't believe where she was right now. She'd been arguing with Fury then transported to some large hall see barely saw before being swept into strong arms and taken - where exactly? Looking up, she stopped breathing. Thor was staring down at her with such devotion she felt she'd fall down without his arms around her.

"How? Where?" Jane had asked, holding him tightly.

"My father and Asgard," he grinned as he kissed her forehead. That light touch had lit something inside of Jane and she'd pulled him down for a long overdue kiss. Wrapping their arms around each other, both were soon lost in relief and passion. He'd lifted her again in his arms and kissed her fiercely, falling onto his bed and reaching for her clothes.

"I'm afraid that I'm hallucinating," Jane had admitted and Thor had then spent long hours proving her wrong.

Now, as they lay in his large bed, fingers intertwined, all Jane could do was stare at him. She bit her lip, trying to find the words to ask him about his letter, about New York, but all she could do was stare at him. He saw the worry on her face and frowned, tracing the lines of her frown with his finger. The candles were almost burned down completely now and the half light made Jane seem elvish and fragile.

"What troubles you, my Jane?" he whispered and she turned away to keep the tears from falling.

"You didn't want me here," she said and he growled, pulling her to face him.

"I have always wanted you here."

"But your letter said you didn't - not that I got to read that letter," she frowned again.

"You never - I do not understand. How do you know of it if you did not read it?"

"Miss Potts asked me about a letter and then we realized that Director Fury had taken it before I could see it." Her eyes stared into his with barely concealed pain. "How could you tell me to stop trying?"

"It was not my wish, Jane. Loki was only a small part of the evil lurking in Asgard. There are others who would like nothing more than to hurt my family and destroy our realm. I could not bring you here while such creatures lived." At her look of confusion he continued. "Loki's magic is strong, but he was led astray by others who exploited his insecurity and pain. Not that it absolves him, but he was indeed led astray. And now he shall pay the price."

"So I would have been safe if I had come here earlier," Jane said but he shook his head sadly.

"From Loki, yes. But these others who freely walk among us, some from Asgard, some from other realms - they hide their true intent. It is always a risk that one of them would decide to attack when we are distracted rebuilding our bridge. One woman in particular is troubling, but we cannot prove her to be an enemy as yet." He sighed. "So much magic is being expelled that dark forces could easily hide amongst the powers rebuilding. I could not see you hurt."

Jane thought about that and nodded. He went about things the wrong way, but he did have her welfare in mind. She couldn't be angry with him for that.

"Do you have any idea who these creatures are?"

"I have suspicions of a few. As I have said, one in particular seems to be a threat. But it is nothing that can be proven without starting a war within the castle walls. Once that happened, chaos would reign. You must stay near to me, Jane, you must not leave my sight. Promise me."

She wrapped her arms around him, her head to his heart and sighed.

"That is something I think I can promise, Thor. As long as you promise to keep me with you, no matter how dangerous you think it is." Her eyes held a warning and he was conflicted.

"Jane - I cannot -" she glared up at him.

"You will not abandon me again, Prince of Asgard. Not when I just got you back."

He smiled at her and kissed her gently. "Indeed, my love. I will not."

"Oh and Dr. Banner told me that you write to him? Should I be jealous?" A flicker of mischief hid in her gaze and he growled again, pinning her to the bed.

"Judge for yourself, woman," he said roughly and kissed her until she could no longer think clearly.

bebebe

The library was more vast than any Bruce had ever seen and he'd been in quite a few. Wandering the room he gazed longingly at the walls lined with scrolls and was just getting up the courage to touch one when he heard a gentle cough behind him. Spinning around he saw the woman from Odin's throne room smiling at him, her dark blue toga matching her eyes perfectly.

"I'm sorry," Bruce said, "am I not supposed to be in here?"

"You may freely browse our works," the woman said. "You are Bruce Banner, scientist. And also a fierce warrior when needed. I have watched your battles for some time now."

"I beg your pardon?" Bruce was confused. Did Asgard watch the Avengers because Thor had fought with them, or was it some other reason? Clint would say they were spying so that weakness could be exploited, but Bruce wasn't going to judge without facts.

"Midguardians are not usually so polite," the woman said smiling. "At least the last ones I met." She walked into the room and beckoned to him to follow her. After a moment, he did and felt a strong sense of peace. For some reason, that worried him. "We were concerned when Loki attempted his plan. Most of us have seen the final battle where he was caught. I was most impressed by your valor and strength. There are those here that believe he had allies who have not yet been caught. Rumors mostly, but we are wary of any new people to come visit."

"And the last humans you met - when was that?" Bruce asked, side stepping the compliments. He'd ask Thor about any possible threats here later. He wasn't exactly sure who else could be trusted yet, even as he felt a certain warmth towards this woman he couldn't explain. Maybe it was the altered atmosphere. He wished he had his instraments to take some readings.

"Oh, I'd say two thousand or so of your years. Egypt, I believe you would call the country. They had a fine library there for some time." She pressed a wall panel and it opened to a staircase. "The really interesting scrolls are down here. I'm Elska, by the way."

"I am pleased to meet you. I saw you in the throne room. Are you related to Thor?"

Elska laughed and Bruce thought it was the most beautiful sound he'd heard in a long time. "Prince Thor? No, he's not of my blood but our families are quite close. I am the librarian here and it has been some time since I could give a tour to someone of your stature. Come, through this tunnel - the light is better and you'll see some interesting books."

"Books, I thought you'd stick with scrolls." He followed her into a large room lit by wall sconces and looked around. Shelves of books lined the walls and he picked one to examine. It was in perfect condition, as if it had been written recently.

"We do keep up with progress, Dr. Banner," she chided gently. "We are not barbarians after all." She glanced down at the book he held. "That book is two centuries old and very progressive for its time. Gamma radiation in its infancy." At his look of surprise she grinned. "Have no fear, all in Asgard know the source strength and admire you for your noble use of it. I myself have more respect for your mind than your brawn, but I am a scholar after all. That is why I came to you." She paused. "That and you are quite handsome for a human."

"Thanks," he said, not knowing what else to say. He put the book down and saw books on meditation, mind control, and even time travel. He thought maybe that last one might be a how to guide and wasn't sure what to believe. Science and magic coexisted here like two sides of the same coin. He watched her pull down some books and put them in the basket she carried. He had a lot to think about and he was trying not to notice how pretty this woman was. He hoped she didn't realize he was staring at her like a teenager. She turned around and he swore he saw a look of satisfaction on her face.

"Feel free to read to your heart's content. Even the mightiest warrior needs to find his peace."

Bruce felt himself blush and Elska watched his expression become guarded. Placing a hand on his arm she spoke in a low, soothing voice.

"Have no fear, Bruce Banner. Asgard is well acquainted with men walking fine lines. It is the way of a warrior to have balance in his soul."

"I'm not sure I handle balance well," he said sheepishly. She tilted her head to the side and nodded.

"In the past, you led with anger out of frustration. Perhaps in the future you will realize that anger is a tool like any other emotion. And emotions can be controlled."

"Mine can't," he said shortly. She smiled again and lightly touched his arm.

"Nothing worth having is given quickly. I'll leave you to your studies and if you wish it, we can dance tonight at the Conduit's party." Without waiting for an answer, she walked out of the room, humming. Bruce watched her go and quietly laughed to himself.

"Not bad for someone over two thousand years old." In the back of his mind, he could swear he heard her gentle laughter.

pdpdp

Munr shimmered into view and stared down at her Son of Coul and his mate. They were deep in sleep and both so precious. Humans did not realize how powerful an instant love could be, they courted and cautiously weighed their options. Munr knew that these two felt something for each other, but they'd both been hurt in the past. She had high hopes for defeating Avalyn and whoever else planned to harm Asgard. Odin was like a father to her, he had created the Cube, created her, and she would not let anyone destroy all he had built.

When Loki had killed this man, Munr knew that Coulson must be saved. His heart was open even if his mind was mired in responsibilities to the Fury and his vocation. She had waited so long to have just the right vessel for her power and the man seemed willing. There would be changes now, she only hoped that everyone involved would be open to them.

She would leave them alone until the party. Waving her hand, she removed the inhibitions that prevented them from telling each other how they felt. It would not make them confess their new love, but it would at least get them to discuss their emotional pull. It would have to be enough for now. Sighing she dematerialized and went to watch Avalyn once more.

Darcy felt lips at her brow and sighed. Someone was kissing her there, then working down to her jaw, so slowly that she felt heat simmer inside of her body, just waiting for a spark. She moved her head to let the lips coast down to her throat, wrapping her arms around her dream man. When his lips met hers, she felt something like electricity jump from his mouth to hers. Something nudged her thigh and she giggled. Someone was pretty happy right now and this was like the best dream ever. She wondered how far the dream would go before she woke up and saw Phil dancing with the blonde ice goddess.

"Darcy," the man whispered and Darcy froze. This wasn't a dream and Phil was kissing her. What should she do? Why hadn't she been awake when this started? Why wasn't she kissing him back? Deciding that it was the polite thing to do, she kissed him slowly, closing her eyes and pulling him closer to her. He growled and slid his tongue between her lips, pushing inside, learning her mouth even as his hands were learning her curves. She didn't know why he'd chosen now to show her how he felt, but she wasn't going to waste time asking questions.

"Phil," she moaned and his eyes flew open. But he didn't pull away. He noticed his arms around her and then he did start to pull away, but she pulled him to her and held on tightly, her eyes watching his every facial expression. He swallowed, not trusting his voice not to crack. Coughing he willed himself to say something intelligent, just to show her that he knew what he was doing.

"You're awake," he said and she gave a shy grin.

"You too," she said, glancing down at his erection.

"I shouldn't," he started to say and she boldly kissed him again, her tongue caressing his as her hands stroked his back roughly. After long minutes of shared breathing and whispered moans, Darcy broke off the kiss to look at him.

"There are easier ways to get me to make you coffee, Agent Coulson," she said and he smiled in spite of himself. He held her in his arms and leaned back into the mattress, pulling her into an embrace.

"I can't seem to get you out of my mind, and I'm not sure I want to," he admitted. "Ever since Munr came to me, I just - had this need to see you."

She frowned. "This is all because of that chip in your head?" She started to pull away but his arms tightened around her.

"No, this is all because you are the most obstinate, obnoxious female I have ever met. Munr just seemed to - release some doubts I had about finding you again. And now, I can't not be near you and I'm babbling. I don't babble." He seemed shocked and she smirked.

"Obviously you do, you sweet talking man, you. Tell me again how obnoxious I am." He blushed slightly and shrugged. She watched with interest as his muscles flexed. Following her gaze he bit back a grin.

"I'm not one for flowery speeches. I'm sure Thor's pretty good at it."

"Yeah, well, I'm not one for believing flowery speeches. I've always thought actions spoke louder than words." She looked up at him through her lashes and winked.

As he started kissing her again, he couldn't help but agree with her philosophy.


	12. Chapter 12

Pepper lifted her head and groaned. Why was the room spinning, and why was Tony grinning at her? The last thing she remembered was seeing everyone gathered in a large room. And there was a man with one eye, except he laughed. Fury didn't laugh, so it must have been Odin. And Phil was there. And there had been wine and well, something else going on but she couldn't really remember. Was this how Tony felt after drinking too much?

Sitting up, she noticed Tony looking through a shiny suitcase like a kid at Christmastime. In the back of her mind she was wondering why he had luggage, but pushed the thought away, shaking her head to clear it. Obviously Asguardian wine had a kick.

"Tony, where did everyone go? Are we still in Asgard?"

"Yep, how do you feel?" He walked over to the bed and smoothed back her hair from her face. "You were pretty sexy back in the throne room. What's under the toga?" She slapped his hand away.

"The same stuff that's always there, Stark." She paused. "We saw Phil. Phil's alive. Where is he?"

"With his lady love, Miss Lewis, I'd wager. Did you see the way she was looking at him? Who knew he'd land a babe like that?" Pepper laughed and pulled him down for a quick kiss.

"Stranger things have happened. You landed - I mean, you convinced me to give you a chance."

He smiled at her, and she sat up more, pulling down the hem of her toga. She noticed that his suit of armor rested within the case, along with some scrolls. "What is all that?"

"While you were sleeping off your wine, Odin gave me a cool new case for the suit. And some instructions or something, but it looks pretty basic. See I just throw my hand out and the suit teleports onto me without flying through the air first," as he did so, the case snapped shut and growled at him.

"Did that case just growl at you?" Pepper asked, amused.

"No! It was more a purr, you know, playful. Come here suit," he said, and the case bounced off of the bed and, and then under it, after pushing Tony backwards onto the floor. Pepper bit back a laugh as he jumped back up, glaring at where the case had disappeared.

"Very playful," she agreed. "What else have you been playing with?" Tony gave one last glare to the case before answering.

"Just this parchment Thor uses to write to Bruce. Apparently you write your message and wish it to the recipient. That's how the letters found their way to him. If you use it to have someone meet you somewhere, it opens a portal or something. I'm not sure, but it might be a version of trans dimensional replication. I wished one of these to Fury but it's still here, so maybe a copy of it reached him and the original stays here like a back up or something."

Pepper's head still hurt a bit so she just shrugged. "Or maybe you have to be an Asguardian for it to work."

"Maybe," he let his eyes travel up and down, appreciating the way her toga showed off her long legs. He ignored the still growling suitcase and focused on his girlfriend. "You know, you must still be tired." He faked an obnoxious yawn and jumped into the bed, pleasantly amused when the case let out a sharp protest. "Me too, how about we just take a little nap until it's time to dress for the party?" Deep chocolate eyes stared up at her and she let her eyes narrow as she crawled into bed.

"Well if you're in here with me you can't get into any trouble," she conceded. He grabbed her around the waist and flipped her onto her back. Biting her breast gently through the thin, blue fabric, he smiled at her again.

"Shows how much you know," he said with an evil grin, and started proving her wrong.

ddddd

Director Fury was not a man of many words. He preferred to review the intel, send in the right agents, and get a report on his desk as soon as the dust cleared. So being in the middle of an occurrence like Doctor Jane Foster disappearing in a burst of lightning was not helping him find his happy place. Three hours after she left, he was still fuming and still clueless on what had happened.

He was missing his best agent, half his Avengers, and some civilians who had a knack for having a mind of their own. And it wasn't even lunch time yet. Throwing his hands into the pockets of his trench coat, he glared at a young agent scrambling around barking orders. He had no clue, Fury thought to himself. Time to pull the scary dude routine with the junior agents.

"Harrison, what do we know about unauthorized aircraft in the area?" Harrison froze. Director Fury was speaking to him on his first official mission with senior agents. Was that good or bad? He wished he'd paid more attention to office gossip.

"We've run the all of our data and gone over the air traffic control reports twice. No unrecognizable aircraft has been within 30 miles of here, sir," Agent Mark Harrison said, happy Fury could not see the panic behind his sunglasses. No one liked disappointing the Director.

"No unrecognizable aircraft. Then something was out here."

"Well, not a plane," Harrison faltered, glancing at other agents who would not meet his eyes.

"Well - what was it, Agent? Angels? Fairies? Damn goblins?"

"We - we don't know sir, it seemed to be a flash of lightning that lit up the sky for a twenty mile radius. Radar at the time showed a flash and then barometric pressure reversed then righted itself. The science team is quite impressed."

"And all that means what exactly?" Fury asked calmly, knowing the answer but wanting to make the younger man sweat it out for a few more minutes.

"Well, it um, it means that something came and - got her. Then disappeared. Fast." The agent looked ill, and Fury could have sworn he saw Harrison flinch. Good to know the rookies believed he exterminated the agents who didn't get results.

A sound startled the agents and everyone looked up to see a giant red eagle fly overhead. It was carrying a shiny object which fell to earth a few feet away from Fury. After determining that the object was not going to explode, he cautiously held up a hand and approached. It seemed to be a cylinder, with runes and symbols etched upon the metal. Gold by the looks of it.

As he picked it up, it opened and a scroll of parchment fell out - Fury braced himself and unrolled it carefully then swore under his breath, recognizing the hand writing.

"Dear Cyclops, we're all partying it up in Asgard and Phil's got himself a mate. Come up and join the fun...Tony Stark AKA the Man of Iron."

"And just how am I supposed to do that?" Fury asked no one in particular.

A softly whirling light appeared in front of him and he motioned for his agents to stand down. He'd go alone this time and grab Phil. But he'd be back with reinforcements if they'd done anything to shorten his best friend's life span. Walking into the light, he let himself be pulled toward Asgard.

Happy shook his head. "That's it, I'm out of here. Clear me for take off boys, I'm driving home." No one argued.

dddd

Avalyn paced the long veranda that ran the length of her suite, muttering under her breath. The fool child had blocked her attempt at mind control. It was not possible for a mere Midguardian female to have such defenses against dark arts. She knew this male had great power but had not yet unleashed it, unless he was lending some to the girl. She refused to believe Darcy Lewis had power of her own. Because if she did, that would mean Coulson had chosen her for his mate, whether he knew it consciously or not. And if that were true, Avalyn would have no hope of destroying them.

She felt a chilled breeze across her face, almost like a slap, but shrugged. Paranoia was for the weak and she was far from weak.

She would get Phil to destroy Darcy and then fall into her bed. And then, after that, she would drain every last bit of magic from his body. Munr would be under her control and with that power - she could overcome Odin's brainless son Thor and his so called Avengers. She took a sip of tea and smiled. So many plans she had for this backwards realm. The people had too much freedom, too much - choice. Loki had been a willing pawn, but she could sense the beginnings of remorse in the god through her magic. No matter, she'd found someone more powerful than the god of mischief. The Conduit would supply her with the Cosmic Cube - the ultimate in raw energy.

Choosing her gown carefully, she started chanting the spells that would increase her power. She had so much hunger for it, she could barely breathe. Killing lesser sorcerers had fed her need, but her latest victim was decomposing in a bog nearby and she was feeling restless. If Asgard could only breed more mages and less warriors, she would have ruled the fools eons ago. She shrugged again, warriors had their place, she supposed. She would need some sort of army to let loose on Midguard once she made her way there as queen.

She called a servant to her side and demanded a hot bath prepared. If she was to be the seductress this evening, she must be relaxed and at ease. So much depended on how this night would go. She mentally went over the list of people she could use to get closer to Phil and nodded to herself. The archer that Loki had used was still unsure of himself. He would make the perfect pawn and no one would suspect her involvement as the man obviously was a bit unstable. She leaned back into the steaming tub and sighed. When she was queen, she might even let Coulson live long enough to supply her with his seed. A son of the Conduit would be an appropriate heir to her new, dark kingdom.

ddddd

Phil and Darcy had been talking for hours, filling each other in about what they'd been up to since their last encounter in New Mexico. Somewhere in between hearing about her work with Jane and her irrational fear of clowns, he'd learned that she had a mother who never called, a sister who never called, and a father who had died before she was born. She also had one cousin, somewhere, who had skipped town the moment he turned eighteen. That was ten years ago and she hadn't heard from him since.

As for Phil, he had two loving parents in their seventies who were still active in community service and volunteer work. His father was in government work and his mother was a somewhat famous painter. Two younger sisters, Amy and Beth who both had jobs that kept them out of the country a lot, and a multitude of relatives that he rarely saw due to his work.

Kissing had not been enough for Darcy, but somehow she knew that they were not ready for more. There was an expectancy to whatever this was between them, a learning curve of sorts. She felt like there was a current of electricity jumping from his heart to hers and the closer they were to each other, the stronger the pull. She was nervous because this felt like an emotion she usually ran from, but she couldn't keep her hands off of him. He was alive, he was happy to be near her. She smiled to herself, realizing that he was actually talking with her as if she had intelligence, and not just a large bra size.

Thinking of bra size made her remember that woman who had burst into their suite and she frowned. Phil noticed and tilted his head to the side as they lay together, talking.

"Something I said?" The question made her giggle a little and she shook her head.

"No. I almost forgot though - you had a visitor earlier. A very - um, female visitor. She seemed to think you were escorting her to our party later."

"Really? Was she pretty?" Darcy smacked him and he laughed. She felt such a rush of warmth hearing that sound that she bit her lower lip and pretended to be severe.

"She was a witch. Blonde, boobs and bad attitude."

"Hmm, well I can assure you that you are the only one with bo- I mean bad attitude that I want to take tonight."

"You were gonna say boobs!" Darcy laughed, slapping his arm. He kissed her forehead and grinned.

"You'll never really know, will you?" he winked. At her slightly frowning face he paused. "She bothered you that much?"

"It sounds petty and jealous, and I don't have any right to be either."

"But?" His eyes asked a question she wasn't ready to answer and she laughed lightly.

"Maybe I don't like competition." Her voice was carefree, but he could see she was hiding her discomfort. He pulled her into his arms and held her like she was a fragile piece of art.

"Would you?" There it was again, the unspoken questions. She swallowed, gazing into his eyes.

"Would I what?"

"Compete for me?" She stared at him, a million flip remarks coming into her head but for some reason, refusing to leave her mouth. She slid her leg over him and pulled him to her roughly.

"Depends what I got if I won," she whispered. He smiled and her insides melted into a puddle of warmth.

"A relationship with a cranky, old workaholic who hardly ever smiles unless he's trading Captain America cards or kissing a beautiful brunette coffee goddess."

"Wait, that's me right? I'm a goddess?" She laughed as he kissed her tenderly.

"So?"

"Sounds fun. And you're not that cranky. Old people tend to just get stuck in a rut sometimes. That's why you need a coffee goddess to keep you occupied." She paused. "And awake. Caffeine is good for old and cranky."

He narrowed his eyes for a moment before pouncing on her to tickle her. Soon they were kissing again and Darcy forgot to mention the mind control attempt. There would be time for that later.


	13. Chapter 13

Tony and Pepper awoke to a knock on their door. Softly at first, and then a solid pounding.

"Five more minutes, J.A.R.V.I.S.," Tony muttered, pulling a pillow over his head. Pepper nudged him and he sighed.

"Tony, someone is at the door."

Shrugging, Tony went to answer it and Pepper squealed.

"Good to know I still impress you," he laughed, doing a little dance. She pointed at his lack of clothes, rolling her eyes.

"Pants, Tony!" At his sheepish grin, she shook her head. It only took her a moment to throw on the soft white robe that had materialized on the bed when they'd first heard the knock on the door. She could get used to having magic around her.

Tony hopped into his pants and flung the door wide to see Thor and Jane smiling at him.

"Friend Stark," Thor boomed. He strode into the room, "And the Lady Potts! I see you are well rested."

"I see you are well - rested too," Tony said, smirking at Jane's still messy hair. "Doctor Foster, good of you to join us. Did Cyclops come with you?"

"Cyclops - oh, him. No, Whatever brought me here left him behind." Her voice had an edge to it and Tony raised an eyebrow. "He's probably making battle plans to rescue Agent Coulson even as we speak."

"Someone should let him know what's going on," Pepper said, tightening her robe's belt. "He's a bit on edge lately."

"We will explain all to the Director when he arrives," Thor assured Pepper, kissing Jane's head gently. She smiled up at him and Tony could see that when she was relaxed, she wasn't half bad looking. Pepper noticed Tony's assessment and coughed, giving him 'the look'. Tony stuck his tongue out at her and sat down on one of the large chairs on the balcony.

"What brings you two lovebirds by?" Tony asked as Thor sat in an opposite chair, pulling Jane onto his lap. The god paused, wondering where to begin. The conversation would be delicate and Thor did not have much practice with that.

"Loki," At Tony's dark look, Thor raised his hand. "I know you are not fond of his actions, but there are larger forces at work. The battles we fought were not caused solely by my brother, he was courted by hidden enemies. These enemies of Asgard threaten your realm as well - all realms really." He paused, searching Tony's eyes for understanding. "I know Loki acted rashly, but he did it out of hurt and revenge for wrongs that we need not speak of here. Only know that he did not act alone and his cohorts are still roaming free in Asgard. We must all be on our guard."

"Can't your dad sense them or something? He's supposed to know everything," Tony said, still not sure what was being discussed.

"Free will is a curse as much as it is a boon," Thor explained. "Until they act, we have no way of knowing their hearts. We have suspicions, but that is not enough to imprison them. The Conduit will assist in finding them out and destroying them. It is the purpose for which he was created. He will execute the traitors when they are found. There is one in particular - Avalyn. A powerful sorceress. He must find her out and remove the threat."

"Phil? He's not going to just blindly kill people without a reason," Pepper said, pulling up a chair. "There are laws."

"Midguardian laws do not apply to Asgard - or to the Conduit. Philip Coulson is no longer a mere Midguardian - no offense to you, of course."

"Of course," Tony agreed wryly. "So Agent has the power to smite your enemies for you. Is that why you brought him here?"

"He is here because he must be trained. And in order for that to happen, he must freely choose what Munr is offering. If he does not, she will have no choice but to leave his soul and let him perish."

"She'd let him die?" Jane asked, shocked. Thor hugged her briefly.

"She would have no choice. She chose him to be her warrior because he gave his life against a god. In return, he must pledge to protect the innocent from those who would bring harm. Not just to this realm, but to all. It is not a choice that can be made lightly - nor revoked once he agrees to it."

"What if he doesn't agree to it?" Tony asked. "Does his head explode?"

"No. It would be as it was before Munr chose him. We would all go back to that point in time where the Son of Coul gave his life - but this time - he would not be saved. None of this would have happened."

Jane looked ill. "I wouldn't come here and find you again." Thor shook his head sadly.

"No. It might not be until much later in time until we found our way back to each other." Jane glared.

"Unacceptable." Tony was impressed. The little scientist looked a bit evil.

"This whole thing is unacceptable. You can't just make a man into a weapon - it changes him." Tony stopped, well remembering how he'd changed when he had first come into Iron Man's power.

"I know your feelings for the Son of Coul run deep. Your embrace in my father's throne room proved that," Thor paused as Pepper's startled gasp turned into a giggle. "But this destiny can only help us all."

Pepper took a deep breath, getting her nerves under control. "You're talking about making Phil some sort of killing machine. That isn't who he is."

"You misunderstand me, Lady Potts. He would not be blindly killing. He would be a warrior in the purest form of the word. He would honor, protect, and avenge all who were persecuted by evil. Much as he does now, but - with added powers."

"What powers?" Tony was intrigued. Thor shook his head.

"No one is exactly certain. It all depends on the bond he forms with Munr. But he must do so quickly, or these enemies may seek to use him to gain Munr's magic. He must decide tonight. And we all must stand with him. Can you do this?"

"I will always stand by Phil," Pepper said slowly. "But he has to be the one who decides what happens."

"Agreed," Tony said. "Well, get out so we can get dressed and meet you down at the party. We'll figure it all out once we see Agent."

AVENGERTHORAVENGERTHOR

Fury looked around with the eye of a predator. A giant black man, dressed in gold was staring at him. The man nodded and pointed towards a path that seemed to lead to a fortress. Well, if he was going to get his agent back, he would have to go find him.

He walked briskly, noting the way people noticed his arrival, but did not impede his progress. Still, they all looked as if they could protect themselves given the motivation. He thought he saw Barton watching from a turret, but shook it off to focus on getting his answers. Clint could wait until Fury knew what he was up against with Odin.

As he made his way towards the fortress doors, guards came up from behind and escorted him - just far back enough to not overtly pose a threat. Fury almost smirked at that. The doors quickly opened for him and he walked through, leaving the guards behind. A woman in blue was standing there, smiling.

"You are the Fury," she said. "Munr said you would come." She led the way down a long corridor and moved quickly, with purpose.

"Did she? Did she also happen to say what she did with Phil Coulson? And who are you?" he asked, falling into step with her.

"The Conduit is safe and with his mate. They will both see you at their ball tonight. My name is Elska and I will take you to our king." She led him to a set of golden double doors and nodded. The doors opened and Fury could see a dais with thrones and a weary looking one eyed man watching him. Walking up to the dais, Fury bowed his head briefly then kneeled. He wasn't a fool, he knew who this was.

"Nicholas Fury," Odin said, motioning for him to rise.

"King Odin," Fury answered. "Where's my agent?"

"Resting along with the others. There is to be a ball this evening." The king watched him closely. "Might I ask how you found your way to Asgard? We were planning of course to invite you here tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?"

Odin smiled and Fury felt a slight tremor. "The Conduit and his mate need time to come to terms with his new role. However, since you are here, you may observe his acceptance of the Cube's power at the ball this evening."

"You guys keep saying mate. Did you force him into some kind of marriage with an Asguardian?"

"Of course not," Odin said, smiling, "He is mated to the Lady Darcy."

"Darcy - Darcy Lewis?" Fury asked, amazed. At Odin's nod, Fury couldn't help it. He started laughing, and after a moment, the king cracked a smile. Odin stood and motioned for Fury to follow him into his private study.

"Come, Director Fury - we have much to discuss."

Odin explained everything to Fury, who paced, deep in thought. And when Odin suggested a compromise of sorts, Fury swore under his breath, but agreed. Plans would have to be changed, Lewis would have to be given clearance way beyond what she should have, and Fury would have to work closely with Asgard.

"So his head isn't going to explode," Fury mused. "I should have known that was a piece of sh-" Odin coughed and Fury shrugged, taking a deep breath.

"No, his head will remain where it is, next question please."

"Loki isn't really your son?"

"He is in all the ways that matter. He - fell in with the wrong crowd, as you Midguardians would say, but he is paying his price. Loki however, is not the issue. Avalyn and her minions are craving power. She is a cousin of a known enemy but we have had no real proof of her misdeeds. Tonight will change that. She's been waiting for Munr to choose a warrior."

"And Phil's gonna fight your battles for you now?"

"The son of Coul is an honorable man, Director Fury. He will be told what is expected of him and he will make his own choice."

"Work for you or die, is that it?"

"Your friend was saved for a higher purpose, Director Fury. He must be given the chance to choose that purpose - or not. We do not force our agenda on unwilling participants." The stern look he gave Fury would have made his wife laugh, had she been in the room, so perhaps it was best she was not.

"If Phil's in danger," Fury said quickly, but Odin shook his head.

"We are all in danger, every day of our existence is littered with close calls and random acts of violence. Your agent will have to make a choice few have been burdened with. The question is, will there be a place for him on your world if he accepts his fate?"

"There will be others who come to Earth now. Other threats to our 'realm'."

"Yes, but there will also be those who come to you in peace - to aid you in your objectives. They are already on your world, humans - but - more somehow. Your Doctor Banner such a man, but there are many others. Will Agent Coulson be welcomed home now that he is one of them?"

Fury stared the other man down and an idea came to him. "As a matter of fact, I believe Agent Coulson will be in a unique position to help both of us with our objectives." He explained his idea to the king who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that would be most satisfactory." A servant appeared out of nowhere and Odin smiled. "Go with Murren to prepare for the festivities this evening. I think that you should delay your entrance until the moment presents itself. Avalyn tends to focus on the weakest link, I fear your hawk may be that link. We will have to tread carefully this evening."

"I'd like to see Agent Coulson and his 'mate' before the party," Fury said. Odin nodded.

"I will assemble them in my study now."


	14. Chapter 14

She watched as the archer performed some sort of flowing martial arts, eyes closed, movements graceful. If Avalyn was not to mate with the Conduit this evening, she would make a play for this man, if only to see how graceful he was in bed. She was almost sorry that he would have to die at the ball, he was most pleasing to the eye. Taking a deep breath, she released just enough magic to make the man notice her arrival. He regarded her as he would look at a flower, pretty enough, but not interesting for more than a casual glance. She did not like that, but put a pleasant smile upon her face and walked over to him, hips swaying.

"Archer, your movements are most odd to me. Is it a form of Midguardian dance?"

Clint looked at her with a barely disguised glance of annoyance, then schooled his features into a blank stare. Most who saw it were smart enough to make apologies and retreat. Nat called it his 'kill first, ask questions later' look. But Avalyn would not be stopped by a stare. She sat on a nearby bench, letting the folds of her toga rise just enough that her legs were shown to advantage. Men were simple creatures, whether they were of Asgard or not.

"It's a way to focus my thoughts." Clint answered, but said no more. Avalyn nodded sagely.

"Yes, you must have much on your mind. You are friends with the Conduit, are you not?"

"I work with Phil Coulson. He's an agent and a human being." The glint in his eye startled Avalyn, but she kept a smile on her face.

"Of course, but you do realize that he is not only those things now. The Cube will use him to exert control over all of our realms. He will be little more than a puppet for Odin's whims." She made a sad face. "If only someone was able to stop Coulson from accepting the Cube's offer - he'd be free to be human again and could go back to your world with you. If he accepts the power, he'll be little more than a machine, killing as easily as breathing."

"Who are you?" Clint asked, coming closer.

"Just a friend. My name is Ava and I too was once a pawn of the Cube. But I was lucky to get away - your friend has no one to warn him as I had. He'll be cursed."

"If you were a pawn, how did you escape to talk about it?"

"My magic is stronger than the Cube. And I have friends in very high places."

"Higher than King Odin?" Clint asked, stretching his leg muscles out, seemingly uncaring of her company.

"Odin is powerful, but he is not the only king in the Nine Realms. If you so wish, I could use my powers to protect the Cond- I mean your friend." She leaned back letting her cleavage lure him into her web."Consider it a gesture of goodwill. The energy of the Cube is not meant for a human soul. Your friend must be sent back to your own world and let Asgardian matters resolve here where they belong. Look into my eyes."

Clint did so and saw her eyes change from blue to a swirling of gold and orange. He couldn't look away, even as he knew that she was not what she claimed. He felt dizzy and an overpowering urge to fight came over him. He had to fight - but what? Or who? Images of the other Avengers came into his head with a feeling of violence. He had to attack them? He had to destroy them, they didn't understand. He shook his head as if to shake the traitorous thoughts out - no! He would not be controlled again - he would not let something else take over his mind. Not when Phil obviously needed him. He shook his head and she growled at him. A burst of pain hit him and he looked at her again. This time he nodded, seemingly calm.

"Phil must be protected from the Cube, tell me what you want me to do," he said and she smiled sweetly.

DPDPDPD

Pepper swirled in her red dress, admiring how it sparkled. Usually she dressed with a purpose - either tough as nails boardroom chic, or understated elegance at one of the many Stark charity events. This dress was different, somehow more girly than she would have chosen, but perfectly suited for her. Tony thought so too, given how many times he'd tried to get her out of it. She swatted his hand away for the umpteenth time and grinned.

"Careful, Man of Iron, I might have to punish you later if you don't keep your hands to yourself."

"That's what I'm hoping for, Lady Potts," he grinned. He leaned in for a kiss only to be interupted by a knock at the door. A woman in blue stood there, smiling gently and Tony instinctively moved aside so that she could enter. He felt an odd sort of trust towards her but had no idea why.

"Greetings, I trust you are both well and looking forward to tonight's festivities. I've come to escort you down to the ballroom."

"I saw you earlier," Tony said, sizing her up, "you were the girl checking out Dr. Banner."

"I have spoken to him, yes. He is a brilliant man and most welcome here. I am Elska, the head librarian of Asgard. King Odin has requested that I answer any questions about your stay here as best as I can."

"Well, I'm pretty brilliant too," Tony said walking between the two women as they made their way down the long corridors. "I'd like to check out the library."

"Of course, perhaps tomorrow. Tonight is a night for feasting and ceremony. The Conduit officially accepts his duties - and his mate."

"A wedding?" Pepper asked. "Isn't that a bit premature?"

Elska laughed. "Midguardians and their protocol. No, they would not be married as you know it. It simply means that the Conduit would ask the Lady Darcy to become his mate and she would agree. After a period of one year, they would be married before the All Father and begin their true work. That is, if she agrees." The woman stopped to stare at Pepper. "Would the Lady Darcy refuse such an offer? As you say, there is no real relationship between them as such."

"I can't imagine what Darcy would or wouldn't do," Pepper said honestly. "I barely know her, myself. She seems like a smart woman though. I'm sure she'll make the right choice."

Elska thought on that for a few minutes then nodded. "Yes, and all will proceed as it will, with or without our worry." She stopped at the doors of the ballroom. "I will leave you for now so you may be announced. I am certain we will see each other later." Bowing, she disappeared into a side door they hadn't noticed.

Shrugging, Tony gave Pepper his arm and bowed. "My lady," he whispered, winking. She smiled back at him and took his arm.

"My lord," she smirked. Before they entered the ballroom, Tony saw Thor rushing off in another direction. Grabbing Pepper's hand, he followed. Smiling at the absurdity of it all, Pepper ran to keep up with her boyfriend.

pdpdpd

Phil and Darcy were startled by a knock on the door. They got off the bed and Phil went to sit on a nearby chair. After making sure her toga was not showing off anything she preferred to keep private, she smiled at him and headed to answer it. Thor stood there, a slight grin on his face as he took in the messy hair and slightly bruised lips. "Greetings friends."

"Um, hi," Darcy said, motioning him to come inside. "Is it time for the party?"

"In an hour's time you shall make your appearance. The others are being escorted for tales of roosters."

"Excuse me?" Darcy was somewhat fluent in "Thorspeak", but this one confused her.

"I think he means cocktails," Phil said from where he was sitting. Thor nodded.

"Yes, a few drinks before you make your first official showing. Before that, however, my father wishes to see you both in his study. There are - issues that must be discussed."

They left the suite, not noticing Tony and Pepper following at a discreet distance. The guards did nothing to stop them, knowing that they were, in their view, harmless Midguardians.

Entering Odin's private study Coulson was not surprised to see Nick. Darcy on the other hand stared at him, muttering a word that would have gotten her mouth washed out with soap as a child. Fury raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Director Fury," Phil said calmly. Fury sighed, noting how his agent and Miss Lewis were dressed. Then he noticed they were holding hands.

"Now it's Director Fury?"

"Now you are annoying me. Did you come to see if you could harvest my brain after the explosion?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Fury coughed under his breath. "Are you - feeling all right?"

"Never better," Phil said and Darcy stifled a giggle. "I can't say I'm surprised you found your way here, but I am a bit curious how you managed it."

"Stark invited me." At Phil's blank stare, Fury grimaced.

"It's not important. King Odin has explained what you are, as best as he can. We need to have a chat and you need to get back to work."

"Well, no one has explained to me what I supposedly am, so perhaps I need to chat with Odin and get back to you." Phil sat on a long couch and Fury glared. Usually an agent would wait for Fury to take a seat before doing the same. Phil was pushing boundaries now and Nick really couldn't blame him. Much.

"You are the Conduit of the Cosmic Cube," Odin said, a slight smirk on his face. "You, my dear fellow, are our only hope."

"I thought that was Obi-wan," Darcy muttered and Phil squeezed her hand but kept staring at Fury.

"And how does this work, exactly?" Phil asked. "Am I a prisoner of war when I go back to Earth? Or are you just going to try taking over Asgard tonight? I can't say I'm pleased with either of those scenarios."

"Agent Coulson, might I remind you that you still work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and answer to me?"

"Actually, I stopped working for you when I died - it cancelled my contract. I'm a free agent."

"Hey, can I be a free agent too?" Tony asked, wandering in casually. Pepper shot everyone a look of apology as she watched Tony nod in a manly fashion towards Phil.

"Agent," Tony said in a deep voice.

"Mister Stark," Phil said, amused. "Miss me?"

"Hardly," Darcy smirked. "Nice to see you again, Mister Stark."

"Nice to be seen."

"Not to interrupt," Fury drawled, "but we have a problem to discuss. Avalyn."

"That bit- I mean, that woman?" Darcy asked, trying to remain calm. "What about her?"

"We have reason to believe that she is going to try to steal the Conduit's powers," Odin said truthfully. "Her powers are quite strong and we must be ready."

"You mean like that mind control thing she tried doing to me? That was rough, but it wasn't too hard to stop it."

The men looked at her in shock. Odin most of all.

"Mind control?" Phil finally said. "You didn't mention that."

"We were busy," Darcy said, a slight blush growing over her cheeks. "Besides, she can't be that strong if I stopped her."

"On the contrary, Miss Lewis," Odin said, "Avalyn's powers are quite strong, it takes a serious mage to rebuff her if she chooses to attack. Most of Asgard has some innate defense against magic, but a Midguardian - it is unheard of, to say the least."

"That is because she is the Conduit's mate," Munr's annoyed voice floated into the room. Materializing next to Phil, she leveled a dark look at Fury. "Director."

"Munr. Good to see my agent's head is intact."

"Well I may have worded things a bit more dire than necessary. But as you humans say, all's well that ends well, is it not so?" She solidified and held out a hand to the director. "I believe we may be on the same side - we both want what is best for my Conduit."

Fury shook her hand quickly. "I believe that later we will have a chat."

"Wow Fury, nice pick up line. I can see why you are a master with the ladies," Tony said as Pepper smacked his arm.

"If you are all quite through flaunting your total disregard for my authority, can we discuss a game plan for this evening?" Fury asked. As they all nodded, Bruce walked into the room, his head in a book. Everyone turned to him and stared. After a few moments, he sensed their eyes on him and looked up.

"Oh hi." Seeing Fury he blinked. He turned to Tony and smirked. "So you did invite him."

"Well, what can I say?" Tony shrugged. "Can't have a party without the clown."


	15. Chapter 15

Clint wandered through the halls of Asgard, wondering where everyone was. The encounter with Ava had disturbed him more than he was willing to admit. Her voice had been so persuasive, so logical. Why shouldn't he rescue Phil from this place and just go back home? It was obvious they hadn't really punished Loki or Thor would have told them. Then again, maybe he wouldn't have said anything, but Thor really wasn't good at hiding emotions and he knew that Loki's death would hurt the god of thunder. Clint released a sharp breath - people didn't always think clearly when family was involved.

Clint thought about family and wondered what it would be like to have one. None of the Avengers seemed to be family oriented people, each had their own secrets and independent natures. Stark must be nuts thinking they could all live nice and tidy in that crazy tower of his. What kind of idea was that anyway? Sure Pepper was nice and having a place to crash between missions could be an okay idea but live with Stark? On purpose? He shook his head, almost smiling. Nat would kill the man before dropping her suitcase on the floor of her suite. Then Clint briefly imagined sharing a suite with Nat and laughed. Like that would ever happen.

He noticed that there was one particular corridor that seemed heavily guarded even though the doors never opened and no one ever approached them. He knew that the throne room was on the far side of the palace and that the living quarters were above the throne room. Clint's instincts focused on that doorway and he felt a twinge of a familiar magic flow through his body. Just enough to let him know that he was close to something he'd come across before. So - perhaps this was the way to something bad. Something that was guarded more than Odin himself. Perhaps - he could find a wayward god of mischief.

And if he was right, he was going to go have a little chat with the man. Just to clear the air, of course.

pdpdpd

The ballroom in Odin's palace was filled with laughter and whispers. They had all thought the Conduit a myth, because no mere man could join with the power of the Cube - and especially not a Midguardian. To learn that this was not the case brought great relief to many in the crowd. Evil was strong, even in Asgard, and news of a new defense was welcome. Rumors were whispered that Phil was a threat to Asgard, Avalyn had been seen leaving his suite earlier in the day. There were those who did not trust the Midguardian, but Odin was wise and all would become clear in time. If the man was a threat, the Cube would destroy him.

Tony and Pepper mingled, keeping a watchful eye on Phil and Darcy. If Avalyn was to make a move, it would be tonight at the feast supposedly joining their friends in "mating". Pepper was still not sure of whether or not she liked the idea of Phil becoming more of a soldier, but even she could see that Phil was in his element. Making contacts, working the crowd with Darcy at his side, the man gave off a vibe of calm competence. Still, if you watched closely, he had an undercurrent of something hiding just beneath the surface, a deadly sort of power. No one who didn't know him would have noticed the difference in his bearing, but Pepper knew him - and she noticed. She only hoped that Phil wasn't in over his head. She also hoped that Darcy wouldn't get her heart broken.

"Odin sure knows how to throw a party, the wine glasses never stop refilling themselves. Bet I could figure out how it's done and start a new side business back home," Tony mused, sipping slowly for once. Pepper smirked briefly then continued to watch her friends.

"Don't have too much, Man of Iron - you know what they say about the spirit being willing but the flesh being weak."

"Ha ha. I've never had an issue of weak flesh as you well know, Potts. And if anyone has been overindulging on this jaunt, it would have to be you and your new friends. The queen still seems a bit tipsy." He nudged Pepper with his hip and smiled. Rolling her eyes, she grinned back at him, then glanced over to where Bruce was talking with Fury.

"I hope he's not trying to talk Bruce into showing off the other guy, this is stressful enough without the Director stirring the pot."

"Why Pepper, that is so unlike you. I'd have thought you'd like a bit of human back up in the land of Oz." She smacked his arm.

"Ha ha. I just don't want this party to turn into a battle zone. Speaking of which, isn't that your new suitcase slinking around in the shadows?"

Tony glanced in the direction Pepper was smirking and saw the case move from pillar to pillar, as if not wanting to be seen.

"Here boy," Tony called. "It's okay to be out in the open." The case slid over to Tony and almost knocked him over. "Try to be a little careful, War Dog, knocking over your master is bad form."

"War Dog?" Pepper asked, trying not to spit out her drink. The case rested on Tony's foot until he pulled it back quickly, letting the case flip over onto its side.

"Yeah, he's kind of like a dog. An overconfident metallic dog with some boundary issues." He glared down at the case which was now growling softly. "Not exactly K-9 from Doctor Who or anything, of course, but we takes what we gets."

"Of course. You're still smarting over them renaming War Machine aren't you?"

"Who me? Nah, just going with the flow."

"Yeah, well just don't flow into that suit tonight and blow up Asgard. Let Odin handle Avalyn and we can all go home in the morning."

Tony gave a wide innocent smile and Pepper sighed. It was going to be one of those nights, she could tell.

pdpdpd

Avalyn swept into the room as if she owned it. She'd been waiting for such a night for a long time and finally, she was to be crowned queen. But first - she needed to get the Conduit away from that meddlesome human girl. She had guards in place at each exit, she had a poisoned dart ready for Darcy Lewis and she had another for that fool Thor. All was ready.

Odin was in the front of the room, welcoming his guests. Avalyn watched from the shadows as the king smiled and held up his hands to quiet the crowd.

"Welcome, my fellow Asguardians to a most unique occasion. My queen and I have cause for new hope of a lasting peace between the realms. A champion has been born through Munr's intervention and foresight. A Conduit has been chosen to lead us all into a new era of prosperity. My people, I give you Philip, son of Coul and his chosen mate, the Lady Darcy."

Avalyn waved her hand and Darcy fell to the ground. A moment later, Pepper screamed.


	16. A meeting of the minds

Clint made his way through corridors that got darker and narrower as he grimly searched for his prey. Something was off, this was too easy. A little voice was telling him that there should be guards blocking his path, traps set to impede his progress, but there was only the sound of his own light steps on the paved floor.

"Do you know where you're going?" A woman's voice startled him and he spun around to face his questioner. There was something strange about this one, a sort of power just beneath the surface. She stood in shadows, making it hard to see her face. His hand instinctively went for a knife he hadn't had moments before and she smiled, shaking her head. "There is no need for that in this place, Clint Barton."

"Who are you? Where is Loki?"

"I am Munr, and Loki is in his prison. Why are you here, Clint Barton? What do you seek to gain by petty revenge while your comrades face Avalyn's wrath?"

"You're the one who's trying to control Coulson," he started, but she shook her head.

"I'm the one who saved him. He is still his own man but under my protection as is his mate," she said leaving Clint to wonder on that one for a moment. "Again I ask you, what do you plan to do with the god of mischief?"

"Loki is my concern," Clint answered glibly. "You're lucky I didn't throw first and ask questions later." The woman laughed lightly as she faded a bit from view. His eyes widened slightly but he said nothing. He also remembered that he did not have his weapons returned, yet a blade was in his hand. A trick of some sort?

"Your weapons cannot harm me while I am in Asgard. Odin's magic forbids it. That being said, your mind wishes to protect you and has brought you a blade." She slowly started walking around him, pausing to tilt her head as she noticed his hand still near the knife. "I know you, Clint Barton, I know you through my link with my Conduit. You are known as Hawkeye, and you have been harmed by the god of mischief. What you do not know, or care not to acknowledge, is that Loki has been harmed by a far greater menace, and though much of it was of his own making, he is not the sole villian."

"I'm supposed to believe that someone took control of his mind?" Clint scoffed. Munr raised a delicate brow and waited. Clint glanced away, suddenly uncomfortable, and took his hand away from the hilt of his weapon. "Even if it is true, he hasn't been punished. He killed thousands of innocent people. And all he gets is to be locked up in paradise. I've seen a lot of this place today, I doubt he's suffering much."

Munr stared at him, seeming to see the parts of Clint Barton that hid behind Hawkeye's stony exterior. She saw the lost, lonely child growing up in a circus, learning to rely on his own instincts rather than other people. She saw a trace of fierce love for someone, but just as quickly as she sensed it, the feeling was closed off from her. She sighed, the Russian was important to him but she would not push that yet. No, he had to face his demons without distractions.

"If it is Loki you wish to see, than Loki shall be seen." She motioned and part of the wall seemed to disappear. Clint shot her a quick glance before rushing through the wall to find himself facing his tormentor. Loki looked up, not seeming surprised that someone was in his cell. His clothes were dirty, his long hair in his eyes. Those same eyes that had been filled with such hubris and wrath? They were now empty as he stared at Clint, and the archer stared back, not knowing what to say now that he was with his enemy once more.

"If you've come to kill me, you'll find that will not be so easy," the low voice was not mocking, or cruel. It simply spoke the truth. "Odin has spelled this cell to make it quite difficult to land a fatal blow. I suppose he wants the honor for himself eventually." He sniffed the air gently, "Ah, you've met the fair Avalyn. Did you sample her delights or put an arrow through her eye? Either way - well done."

Clint drew his blade, letting the tip touch Loki's head. "Tell me now why I shouldn't end your pitiful life."

"Why should I do all the work, archer? Still wanting someone in that pretty little head of yours, telling you what to do, how to feel? I would think that you'd had enough of that. Perhaps Thanos has gotten to you through the witch and this is to be my final curtain. I'm a bit disappointed, I really would rather die in battle. Preferably decapitating my former brother Thor," at that, Loki almost smiled, "but if this is how it shall end, have at it."

The god rose up onto his knees, lowering his head and throwing his arms out to either side. "Well, do it, archer - end my pitiful life."

"Thanos," Clint said, almost remembering something important. "He gave you your scepter."

"Yes. And promised me the world. Never fall for a line like that, archer, you'll only get your heart broken." Loki seemed smug on the surface, but Clint could see the facade crack a bit. He did not want to feel pity for this monster, but - he did. "Do you have any idea how it feels to know you are not wanted, not part of the family who has sheltered you from birth against the real world? How it feels to know nothing but emptiness? No, you and your little Avengers have the perfect little family." Loki's voice was still low, but there was a thread of steel running through it.

"I have no family," Clint said bluntly. "I like it that way."

"You are surrounded by allies," Loki said. "I have none. All pretended respect thinking I was Odin's blood son. Now that they know the truth, they know I am not worthy of their precious esteem. You cannot understand."

"Allies in battle are not friends - I grew up relying on myself, no one in the circus ever cared and that's fine. I don't need anyone to make me complete." Clint's tone was mocking, but filled with hints of bitterness.

"Lie to me all you want, archer, but not to yourself. It smacks of self pity. Enough talk, you came to kill me - so - do it."

Clint raised his blade and brought it down fast. Loki's restraints were gone. The god looked up at him, saying nothing.

"Get up," Clint said roughly. "If you are telling the truth, you can die with honor helping us defeat Avalyn. And if not - I'll kill you myself."

"Fair enough archer," Loki stood and Munr appeared, waving her hand. Suddenly, Loki was clean and groomed. He glanced at Munr.

"Face your destiny as a man," Munr suggested, "not a scared little boy. That goes for you as well, Clint Barton."

And with that, the three disappeared.


	17. Chapter 17

When Avalyn had given the order to attack, three things happened at once. Phil pushed Darcy to the ground, covering her with his body, not that she was complaining. War Dog threw itself at Tony who was pushing Thor out of the way of a poisoned dart. The suit flew quickly, too quickly...and somehow, the queen found herself wrapped up in a suit of metal and heavy artillery.

Bruce felt the familiar anger overpower him but found that he was not changing. He shuddered, not clear why he was still human but had no time to think of it as a guard attacked him. Dodging the blade of his opponent, he worked frantically to guide the party goers out of the room as quickly as possible. A woman tripped and hit her head, Bruce grabbed her and carried her outside to get help. Trying to get back in, the door he'd gone through was now closed and something heavy pushed against it. Bruce swore and looked for another way inside.

Fury went to grab his gun and realized that he did not have it since his weapons had been confiscated. Grabbing a chair, he flung it at a nearby guard, not seeing the blade of another guard stab him until it was too late. Jane and Pepper grabbed him and pulled him from the room, calling for help. Munr appeared and took all three to safety to tend to Fury's wounds. She would have to trust the warriors and her Conduit to do their duty without her - Fury's life was fading and he would need her magic quickly.

Odin swore loudly as his wife was lifted into the air and her slightly tipsy laugh came over the comm link as a metallic voice. "Look husband, I am an Avenger!" Somehow the suit seemed to know Tony was not 'behind the wheel' and hovered in mid flight waiting for instructions from its creator. Who was now rolling off of the god of thunder in apology and tripping over a discarded chair.

"Tony, help her," Pepper ordered, picking up a silver platter and flinging it at one of Ava's guards. The platter bounced off Tony's head and she shrugged, grimacing as he fell back down to the floor. "Sorry," she mouthed. Pointing up at the floating queen, she gently kicked him to get his attention.

Tony looked up and groaned, wondering why his suit was in front of him. He shook his head clear and stood up again.

"Alpha protocol fifteen," he shouted as another poisoned dart came whizzing through the air. Thor at this point was shielding Jane from further attacks while shouting for reinforcements but managed to push Tony to the floor again. Meanwhile, the queen found that she could simply think of what she wanted to do and the suit obeyed. This was thrilling! She raised a hand and a bolt of energy flew toward Avalyn who disappeared from sight only to reappear near Phil and Darcy.

"I will kill you myself," she yelled to Darcy who simply kicked out viciously and laughed as the witch hopped around on one foot cursing under her breath. Phil helped her up and hid her behind his body. "When I say go, run towards the nearest door."

"Not a chance, Conduit, I'm in this with you," she argued, earning a glare from Phil. He dragged her under a table and pulled out handcuffs. "Kinky time isn't really a good plan right now," she grinned as he snapped one of the cuffs to her wrist, then to the iron table leg.

"You will stay put until this is over, Ms. Lewis," he said, kissing her firmly before jumping back up and grabbing the nearest weapon from one of the guests who, quite frankly, was more than willing to see what the Conduit could do with his new powers.

"Good luck," the man yelled as he head butted one of the traitorous guards and flung him to the side. Phil grinned slightly and swung the sword in a wide arc, clearing a path for party goers to escape.

Bruce found his way back inside just in time to be hit over the head with a heavy iron plate. Sinking to the floor, he passed out and Thor slid him under a table to keep him relatively safe during the battle. There was no time to check his wounds, and Jane had already left the room. Thor yelled a battle cry and kept fighting, hoping his friends would all remain safe.

The queen was still laughing , shooting energy bolts towards the guards who dared ruin her party. Odin had had enough of this and waved a hand, freezing the suit in the air and then making it disappear into the queen's chambers. He barely had done this when one of Ava's guards attacked. After a few moments of fighting, a goblet hit the man over the head. Odin glanced up to see Bruce smiling grimly as he held the heavy cup.

Before anyone could see them, arrows quickly flew through the air and took down three of the ten guards in short order. Clint and Loki crouched like panthers taking in the scene before them. Some of the guests panicked seeing the god of mischief, but soon saw that he was assisting the archer. Still, they gave him much space as they ran to the exits.

"Father," Loki cried, raising his hand to work a quick spell. The dart that was poised to hit his adoptive father instead turned and hit Avalyn who screamed. She turned to Darcy and pulled her away from the table, breaking the cuff easily with her strength. Darcy cried out in pain, sure her wrist was broken. She put her hands around Darcy's throat and laughed.

"Surrender or the girl dies," she shouted and Darcy had had enough. Furious at being flung around like a dish rag, she pushed the witch fiercely, wincing in agony. Avalyn stared at her, forming a mental spell to take over the girl's mind but Darcy had felt that before and knew to block the attack. Avalyn was thrown into a wall as if a huge wave had hit her and Darcy sank to the floor, gasping for breath.

Loki glanced at Clint, who nodded. The two of them circled the witch and while Loki distracted her with mocking words and quick reflexes, Clint pulled out a sedative and loaded it into a hollow point arrow. Within moments, she was on the ground, unconscious and everyone fell to the floor, exhausted.

Tony raised his head to glare at Odin. "And they say MY parties are crazy," before closing his eyes and laughing.


	18. Chapter 18

When the chaos had ended and Avalyn was led off in chains, everyone met back in Odin's throne room to reassure themselves it was really over and that they were all safe.

Odin looked at these Midguardians with something akin to pride and then he noticed Loki, standing behind Clint, looking lost and nervous.

"Loki, come forward," he commanded and the others cleared a path for the fallen prince to meet whatever punishment was coming to him. Tony and Bruce both attributed the fact that they were sort of sorry to see him punished again to the concussions they both knew they had from battle. Thor wisely kept silent and held Jane's hand tightly.

The queen entered and sat on her throne, looking much better. Well, at least she wasn't giggling anymore, Odin thought wryly. He turned to look at Loki, not certain where the conversation would go, but knowing it would be resolved soon enough.

"You know that you have much to atone for and today's victory aside, you have done little to earn my trust."

Loki bit his lip but said nothing. He nodded, he would forever be the unloved freak even to his adoptive father.

"He helped," Clint spoke up, startling the others. "He didn't have to, and it's not like I trust him that much but he did help. That should count for something."

"I see. And if I were to say that his presence here in Asgard is not beneficial to our safety?" Odin said, staring down the archer. Clint stood taller and glanced at Loki before answering.

"Then I'd say that maybe Earth could be a place he starts over," he said looking over at Phil. "You don't change who you are inside because of the bad things that happen to you, but - maybe you can move past it. I'm moving past it, so why can't he?"

Tony was oddly quiet and Pepper squeezed his hand. "Tony?" Whatever thoughts were flying around his head, he shrugged and got his game face back on to look at Odin.

"He's right. You can't redeem yourself locked away in a cell. And he's never going to get a fair shake here. At least on Earth, we can keep an eye on him."

"In another cell?" Loki asked, a bit of anger in his eyes.

"If you deserve it. I'm not saying you're going to be let loose to take over the world or anything. But you can't hide from yourself anymore than the rest of can forget who we are. You gotta take a stand, Junior. You gonna make your family proud of you, or are you gonna run? And if you run - we will catch you. And that never ends well. Just saying."

"What would I do - if I were to come back to your planet. Your people would hardly welcome me back with open arms."

"You'd work for me," Phil said quickly. "Your father and Fury apparently have decided that I need to head up a team to track down, um, well - people with special abilities. You could be an asset controlling the more disruptive ones."

"Not that you would get to kill them or anything," Fury's voice came from a doorway. They all spun around to see Munr lead the director into the room. And if he was leaning on her slight frame a bit more than they'd expect, they said nothing.

"Where is the fun, then?" Loki asked, almost amused.

"You get to live, you get to help. You don't lie around here wasting away plotting revenge or treachery." Thor said quietly. "And maybe, in time, you allow me to be your brother once more."

"And admit you have never stopped being our son," the queen said softly. Loki looked up at her and nodded.

"Fair enough. Perhaps I have a few things to learn about compromise." He held out a hand to Clint. After a long moment, the archer took it and held fast.

"Me too, Loki, me too."

Hours later, Phil and Darcy looked over their new office and smiled. "Somehow I never thought things would end up this way," Darcy said, sitting on Phil's lap. He raised an eyebrow and gave her a stern look.

"You never thought you'd be here on my lap?" She laughed and kissed me soundly.

"No, I never thought I'd be working for S.H.I.E.L.D. under you."

"The things you do under me have nothing to do with S.H.I.E.L.D."

Darcy blushed, something she thought she'd given up doing years ago. Phil's phone lit up and he went to answer it.

"Well, let's see if Agent Ward has arrived to meet me," he smiled, picking up the phone and taking a deep breath.


End file.
